THE  EMANCIPATION  OF  THE 
AMERICAN  CITY 


THE 

EMANCIPATION 

OF  THE 

AMERICAN   CITY 


BY 

WALTER  TALLMADGE  ARNDT 


New  York 

DUFFIELD  AND  COMPANY 

1917 


S  3  V  C 

A -7 


Copyright,  1917,  by 
DUFFIELD  AND  COMPANY 


To  my  earliest  instructors  in  the  principles  of 
home  rule 

My  Father  and  Mother 


A 


\ 


CONTENTS 

chapter  page 
Introduction 

I.    The  Problem  of  Home  Rule    ...  3 

II.    The  Basis  of  Home  Rule 21 

III.  The  Municipal  Boss  and  the  Civic 

Spirit 45 

IV.  Short  Ballot  Charters 63 

V.    The  City  Manager  .......  85 

iVI.    Eliminating  the  Parties 103 

VII.    Making  the  Ballot  Effective  .     .     .  133 

VIII.    Initiative,  Referendum  and  Recall  .  152 

IX.    Administration  and  Civil  Service  .    .  173 

X.    Public  Utilities 196 

XI.    Municipal  Finance 220 

XII.    Municipal  Revenues 240 

Appendix  A 261 

B 271 

C 277 

"        D 286 

*'        E 294 

"        F 297 

G 302 

Index 307 


AUTHOR'S  NOTE 

I  take  this  opportunity  to  express  my  grate- 
ful appreciation  for  helpful  suggestions  and  ad- 
vice to  Mr.  Sam  A.  'Lewisohn,  New  York  City ; 
Mr.  Robert  S.  Binkerd,  Secretary  of  the  City 
Club  of  New  York ;  Mr.  Laurence  Arnold  Tan- 
zer  of  the  New  York  Bar ;  Mr.  H.  S.  Gilbertson, 
Secretary  of  the  New  York  Short  Ballot  Organi- 
zation, and  Mr.  Clarence  V.  Howard,  Secretary 
of  the  Voters  Legislative  Association. 


INTEODUCTION 

Since  James  Bryce  recorded  it  as  his  opinion 
a  generation  ago,  that  ^*the  government  of  cit- 
ies is  the  one  conspicuous  failure  of  the  United 
States,"  a  veritable  revolution  has  been  under 
way  in  American  municipal  government.  It  is 
not  yet  completed,  but  it  has  been  so  wide- 
spread in  its  influence  and  results  as  to  make 
it  clear  that  what  was  unhappily  true  when  Mr. 
Bryce  wrote,  cannot  in  truth  be  said  to-day. 

The  development  of  municipal  government  in 
America  during  the  last  decade  in  particular, 
emphasizes  the  fact  that  growth  in  the  structure 
of  government  is  very  much  the  same  as  physi- 
cal growth.  Evolution  is  a  system  of  experi- 
mentation by  means  of  which  Nature  is  for- 
ever trying  to  bring  into  existence  a  more  per- 
fect species.  Variation  resulting  from  these  ex- 
periments of  Nature  is  written  all  through  the 
history  of  plant  and  animal  life.  Nature  tries 
a  new  form.  If  it  is  good  it  is  perpetuated;  if 
it  is  worthless  it  is  discarded. 


Introduction 

Political  evolution  is  the  story  of  natural 
evolution  all  over  again.  While  our  state  and 
national  governments  were  being  expanded  and 
readjusted  to  meet  the  new  conditions  of  in- 
dustrial, social  and  political  life  our  cities 
seemed  almost  to  stand  still.  A  little  over  a 
decade  ago  came  the  awakening  and  ever  since 
then  municipal  government  in  America  has  been 
in  a  state  of  rapid  development.  This  devel- 
opment has  all  been  in  the  direction  of  giving 
a  city  what  has  come  to  be  known  as  **home 
rule'' — the  power  to  do  its  own  municipal 
housekeeping,  to  expand  politically  as  it  has  in- 
dustrially and  physically,  to  free  itself  from  the 
restrictions  that  have  rendered  impossible  of 
realization  all  that  is  best  in  American  munici- 
pal life;  in  fine,  to  control  its  own  municipal 
destiny. 

This  movement  has  involved  the  trying  out  of 
many  agencies  of  government  which  the  people 
have  believed  might  contribute  to  the  well  being 
of  the  city.  Some  of  these  agencies  are  still  on 
trial.  Others  have  already  established  them- 
selves as  proved  forces  in  the  fight  for  munici- 
pal betterment.  The  underlying  idea  in  all 
these  efforts  toward  efficiency  and  perfection,  is 
that  of  conferring  on  city  authorities,  requisite 
powers,  under  the  general  laws  and  the  consti- 


Introduction 

tution,  to  control  the  affairs  of  their  own  city. 

There  are  discussed  here  some  of  the  more 
important  factors  in  this  movement.  Many  of 
them  do  not  directly  involve  the  problem  of 
home  rule,  as  generally  understood,  but  all  of 
them  are  designed,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  set 
the  city  free,  so  far  as  possible,  from  the  shack- 
les of  a  system  of  local  government  that  has 
proved,  after  long  and  costly  experience,  to 
be  wholly  ineffective  and  clearly  incapable  of 
giving  American  cities  the  fullest  benefits  of 
our  democratic  form  of  government. 

No  two  writers  have  ever  fully  agreed  on  a 
definition  of  municipal  home  rule.  One  might 
say  it  is  self-definitive  and  in  a  broad  sense  that 
is  true.  But  when  one  begins  to  elaborate  on 
its  limitations  or  its  comprehensiveness,  one 
soon  passes  the  point  where  any  definition  will 
fit  and  is  compelled  to  write  a  book  to  tell  what 
he  means  by  it.  The  courts  do  not  agree  as  to 
what  municipal  home  rule  means.  It  has  been 
construed  to  mean  one  thing  in  California,  an- 
other thing  in  Minnesota  and  still  another  thing 
in  Missouri.  Finally,  the  la^vmakers  do  not 
seem  to  know  what  home  rule  means,  as  the  at- 
titude of  the  legislatures  in  different  states, 
and  of  succeeding  legislatures  in  the  same  state, 
clearly  proves. 


Introduction 

The  difficulty  lies  in  the  fact  that  it  means  dif- 
ferent things  to  different  people  according  as 
they  believe  that  this  thing  or  that  should  be 
comprehended  in  it. 

Home  rule  requires  not  only  a  power,  con- 
ferred by  statute  or  constitution,  on  a  city  to  do 
certain  things,  but  to  be  really  effective  it  de- 
mands also  an  active  desire  on  the  part  of  the 
people  of  a  city,  as  expressed  in  their  votes  or 
through  their  representatives,  that  such  things 
should  be  done. 

The  author  does  not  attempt  to  make  an  argu- 
ment for  all  the  home  rule  agencies  which  are 
discussed  here,  but  rather  to  emphasize  the  im- 
portance of  adequate  powers  for  cities  and  to 
indicate  how  they  may  obtain  certain  municipal 
** house-furnishings"  for  themselves,  if  they 
choose,  and  what  these  things  may  mean  to  a 
city  when  obtained.  The  point  is  that  cities 
should  have  the  power.  But  in  order  that  the 
fullest  benefits  of  municipal  home  rule  may  be 
enjoyed,  two  clearly  essential  and  intimately 
related  factors  are  a  ** short  ballot"  for  munici- 
pal officers,  and  non-partisan  municipal  elec- 
tions. 

With  legislative  interference  removed  and 
the  power  to  frame,  amend  and  adopt  its  own 
charter,  and  with  the  necessity  of  choosing  but 


Introduction 

few  city  officers  at  a  time  and  these  few  made 
truly  responsible  and  elected  on  a  non-partisan 
basis,  any  city  ought  to  be  able  to  work  out  its 
municipal  problems  satisfactorily.  Then  it  will 
be  able  to  put  its  own  city  planning  system  into 
operation,  take  or  reject  the  recall  and  referen- 
dum, provide  for  a  standardization  of  salaries 
and  an  adequate  civil  service,  adopt  and  put 
into  operation  city  pension  systems,  provide 
parks  and  playgrounds  and  recreation  centres, 
maintain  city  markets,  adopt  a  city  budget  sys- 
tem, and  do  any  other  thing  which  the  consti- 
tution and  the  general  laws  of  the  state  allow. 
Then  will  the  inhabitants  of  a  city  find  freer 
play  for  the  development  of  municipal  initia- 
tive and  be  able  to  develop  a  livelier  sense  of 
civic  responsibility.  When  that  point  is 
reached,  and  not  until  then  can  a  city  be  said 
to  be  in  full  measure  fulfilling  its  mission  of 
service  to  its  inhabitants ;  then  a  city  will  be  a 
better  place  to  live  in — and  all  this  will  be  due 
to  the  fact  that  it  will  possess  real  home  rule. 
This  book  is  not  an  historical  or  legal  treatise 
on  the  intricate  and  difficult  questions  involved 
in  a  consideration  of  a  proper  adjustment  of 
the  relative  powers  of  city  and  state.  It  is  not 
**home  rule''  in  its  purely  constitutional  or 
legal  aspects  that  we  are  considering,  but  rather 


Introduction 

the  broader  sphere  of  the  whole  problem  of  the 
possession  of  adequate  powers  by  a  city  to  sup- 
ply its  own  municipal  needs,  and  render  the 
fullest  possible  service  to  its  inhabitants.  In  a 
survey  of  so  broad  a  field,  little  more  can  De 
done  than  outline  the  main  lines  of  recent  de- 
velopment, analyze  the  factors  or  influences  at 
work  to  accomplish  effective  results,  and  point 
out  with  a  minimum  of  argument  the  obstacles 
to  be  removed  and  some  of  the  ways  that  are 
being  tried  to  remove  them. 

Without  contending  for  the  absolute  superi- 
ority of  a  particular  form  of  government  for 
cities,  or  attempting  to  maintain  that  certain  in- 
strumentalities must  necessarily  be  accepted, 
the  author  tries  to  hold  consistently  to  the  point 
of  view  that  until  municipal  home  rule  is  estab- 
lished the  American  city  can  never  really  ful- 
fill its  municipal  destiny. 


THE  EMANCIPATION  OF  THE 
AMERICAN  CITY 


THE  EMANCIPATION  OF  THE 
AMERICAN  CITY 

CHAPTER  I 

THE  PROBLEM   OF  HOME  BULB 

The  municipal  problem  only  became  a  real 
problem  in  the  United  States  as  urban  growth 
became  the  great  factor  in  our  national  growth. 
When  the  problems  of  social  and  industrial  life 
were  simple  the  problems  of  government  were 
simple.  Statesmen  had  devoted  their  best  ef- 
forts to  the  construction  of  constitutions  for 
state  and  nation,  and  with  little  or  no  consider- 
ation of  its  fitness  the  federal  form  had  been 
superimposed  on  the  cities.  They  did  not  see 
the  necessity  of  working  out  a  municipal  sys- 
tem based  on  practice  and  experience.  They 
had  no  understanding  of  the  factors  involved 
in  municipal  administration  and  they  saw  no 
reason  for  ever  attempting  to  formulate  correct 
principles  of  municipal  government.  Under 
these  circumstances  there  could  naturally  be  no 

3 


4  :   Kmancipation  of  the  American  City 

eoidception  whatever  of  the  meaning  or  signifi- 
cance of  municipal  home  rule. 

Except  in  its  purely  administrative  aspects — 
and  even  there  at  bottom — the  municipal  prob- 
lem in  the  United  States  today  is  the  problem 
of  home  rule.  Before  considering  the  specific 
but  always  closely  inter-related  problems  in- 
volved in  the  greater  phase,  however,  it  is  worth 
while  to  take  a  broad,  general  survey  of  the  sit- 
uation in  order  to  disclose  the  controlling  fac- 
tors in  the  situation  and  the  character  of  the  ob- 
stacles in  the  way  of  a  solution. 

The  imposition  on  American  cities  of  a  sys- 
tem of  partisan  political  control  identical  with 
that  which  prevailed  in  the  state  and  nation, 
was  a  matter  of  comparatively  late  growth.  The 
two  factors  which  made  such  an  extension  of 
control  both  natural  and  logical,  the  crea- 
tion of  powerful  political  organizations  and  the 
extraordinary  development  of  cities,  did  not  at 
first  exist.  They  became  potent  only  as  national 
political  parties,  impelled  by  the  expansion  of 
the  nation,  began  to  transform  themselves  from 
loosely  organized  groups  of  men  who  held  the 
same  views  on  public  questions,  into  great  po- 
litical machines,  capable  of  concerted  action 
over  a  wide  area  and  insistent  on  imposing  and 
enforcing  their  tests  of  political  faith  on  an 


The  Problem  of  Home  Rule  5 

ever  increasing  body  of  public  office  holders. 
The  rapidly  growing  cities  offered  a  ready 
means  of  meeting  the  needs  of  these  great  par- 
tisan machines  and  the  system  once  fastened 
on  the  cities  has  maintained  itself  to  this  day. 
It  has  always  proved  the  chief  obstacle  in  the 
way  of  a  progressive  development  of  our  mu- 
nicipal institutions.  It  has  always  stood  in  the 
way  of  all  attempts  to  readjust  on  a  proper 
basis  the  relative  powers  of  city  and  state. 

In  the  early  days  of  the  Republic,  almost  the 
only  powers  exercised  by  a  city  government 
were  police  powers.  Local  self-government 
concerned  itself  chiefly  with  the  preservation  of 
order  and  the  safe-guarding  of  life  and  prop- 
erty. There  was  small  room  for  radical  differ- 
ences of  political  opinion  in  such  matters  as 
these.  Local  office  holders  were  for  the  most 
part  unpaid,  and  there  was  no  particular  ad- 
vantage in  any  political  party  obtaining  control 
of  the  machinery  of  local  government. 

It  was  at  first  the  exception  rather  than  the 
rule,  when  there  was  any  party  division  on  local 
government  problems.  Those  were  the  days  of 
loosely  organized  political  parties,  the  days  be- 
fore party  conventions  or  party  committees. 
The  machinery  as  well  as  the  functions  of  local 
government  were  extremely  simple.     It  was 


6      Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

easy  to  find  out  what  was  being  done  and  easy 
to  discover  what  public  officials  to  hold  to  ac- 
count. To  be  sure,  in  the  first  fifty  years  of  the 
Republic,  there  were  in  some  cities  local  politi- 
cal organizations  that  sought  to  obtain  office 
or  preferment  for  their  members.  The  advan- 
tage of  working  agreements  in  local  affairs  was 
beginning  to  be  considered  by  those  who  were 
interested  in  extending  their  partisan  influence 
to  wider  areas. 

With  the  Jacksonian  era  came  a  change.  Na- 
tional political  parties  took  on  a  new  meaning. 
As  new  states  were  admitted  to  the  Union  and 
political  organizations  spread  over  a  wider  geo- 
graphical area,  it  was  found  necessary  to  create 
some  workable  and  authoritative  machinery  of 
party  organizations  that  would  make  possible 
cooperation  in  promulgating  partisan  doctrines 
and  in  presenting  the  claims  of  partisan  candi- 
dates for  office.  The  political  theories  that  were 
born  with  the  Jacksonian  democracy  were  of 
the  sort  that  made  political  leaders  quick  to  see 
the  advantage  of  office  holders  as  instruments 
in  making  such  an  organization  effective. 

Political  offices  were  created  in  order  to  pro- 
vide places  for  men  who  would  carry  on  this 
work.  The  comparatively  short  ballots  of  the 
early  days  gave  place  to  a  system  in  which  elec- 


The  Problem  of  Home  Rule  7 

tive  ofiScers  were  multiplied  to  an  extraordinary 
degree.  Office  holders  were  chosen  not  for  fit- 
ness but  for  partisan  purposes.  The  saying, 
*'To  the  victor  belong  the  spoils/^  was  made  to 
mean  something  by  creating  spoils  in  the  shape 
of  public  offices.  National  and  state  govern- 
ments did  not  afford  a  wide  enough  sphere  for 
these  political  spoilsmen  and  they  turned  nat- 
urally to  the  growing  cities  as  fields  for  their 
political  exploitation.  Thus  it  was  that  munici- 
pal governments  were  thrown  into  the  cauldron 
of  partisan  politics  and  the  habit  of  selecting 
local  officers  on  the  basis  of  their  affiliation  with, 
or  service  to,  one  of  the  great  national  political 
parties  became  established.  Starting  with  the 
proposition  that  our  national,  state  and  local 
governments  should  be  administered  independ- 
ently of  each  other,  the  necessities  of  party  or- 
ganization rather  than  the  necessities  of  gov- 
ernment rapidly  developed  a  situation  where 
each  was  made  to  a  considerable  extent  depend- 
ent on  the  other.  As  it  has  well  been  said,  local 
governments  and  national  governments  were 
pooled  to  furnish  spoils  for  the  active  members 
of  the  great  political  parties. 

While  this  process  was  going  on  the  **  aver- 
age citizen''  appeared  to  take  little  or  no  notice 
of  it.    He  had  grown  up  in  a  situation  where 


8      Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

local  government  was  a  simple  matter.  It  ap- 
peared to  him  to  be  run  in  a  fairly  satisfactory 
manner,  his  life  and  property  were  usually 
pretty  well  safeguarded,  and  he  was  left  to  de- 
vote himself  to  his  private  pursuits.  What  more 
could  he  ask?  More  and  more,  as  this  atti- 
tude toward  city  government  prevailed,  the 
business  of  running  the  government  fell  into 
the  hands  of  active  party  workers.  In  the  be- 
lief that  municipal  public  service  did  not  re- 
quire any  great  degree  of  efficiency  or  ability, 
or  afford  an  opportunity  for  advancement, 
the  best  men  ignored  such  service  with  the  re- 
sult that  municipal  offices  were  filled  with  in- 
competent party  hangers-on  who  clogged  the 
machinery  of  local  government  and  made  any 
sort  of  efficiency  wholly  impossible. 

These  were  the  lines  of  development  up  to  the 
time  of  the  Civil  War.  With  the  coming  of 
peace  and  the  new  prosperity  that  followed, 
came  periods  of  speculation,  the  opening  up  of 
new  regions  to  settlement,  and  the  rapid  build- 
ing of  railways.  A  wonderful  increase  in  the 
commercial  and  industrial  prosperity  of  the 
country  took  place.  Commerce  and  industry 
created  new  cities  and  gave  new  life  to  old  cit- 
ies. The  years  that  followed  became  chiefly 
remarkable  for  the  extraordinary  growth  of 


The  Problem  of  Home  Rule  9 

urban  communities.  Gradually  cities  were 
called  on  to  perform  services  that  had  never  be- 
fore been  performed  by  local  governments.  The 
development  of  traction  interests  both  urban 
and  inter-urban,  the  development  of  piers  and 
wharf  properties  in  sea  ports,  the  increase  of 
poverty  and  crime,  greater  dangers  to  health 
due  to  overcrowding,  drainage,  the  necessity 
for  better  fire  protection,  all  these  things  pre- 
sented serious  problems  that  pressed  for  solu- 
tion. But  the  residents  of  our  cities  had  for  the 
most  part  done  their  political  thinking  on  na- 
tional party  lines  and  had  accepted  without 
question  a  condition  that  had  come  down  to 
them  from  the  past  in  which  the  officers  of  their 
local  government  were  merely  partisan  tools 
who  looked  to  the  party  rather  than  the  city 
for  direction  and  were  paid  for  their  work  not 
by  the  party  but  by  the  city,  which  could  not 
be  greatly  or  directly  interested  in  such  issues 
as  specie  payment,  reconstruction,  or  the  tariff. 
Such  a  system  made  possible  and  easy  the 
creation  of  political  rings  and  machines  in  our 
municipalities.  Under  these  circumstances,  mu- 
nicipal reform  was  slow  in  coming.  Citizens 
had  a  complacent  self-confidence  that  things 
would  work  out  all  right  in  the  end.  Belying 
on  the  vitality  of  free  institutions  they  felt  that 


10    Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

there  was  enough  inherent  strength  in  them  to 
solve  all  the  new  problems  without  their  need- 
ing to  bother  about  them. 

They  did  not  at  first  recognize  the  fact  that 
new  life  and  new  ideas  were  needed  to  cope  with 
these  new  issues  and  to  solve  these  new  prob- 
lems. They  acknowledged  that  conditions  were 
bad,  that  change  might  improve  them — indeed, 
even  that  a  change  was  necessary — but  their 
fathers  lived  and  throve  in  communities  con- 
trolled and  administered  in  the  same  way  and 
by  the  same  influences  that  ruled  their  cities 
and  they  could  not  see  exactly  why  it  was  neces- 
sary to  exert  themselves  any  more  than  their 
fathers  had  done.  **It  will  work  out  all  right," 
they  said,  and  kept  on  saying  it  while  conditions 
grew  worse.  Only  when  it  became  apparent 
that  the  life  of  the  very  free  institutions  on 
which  they  had  relied  was  threatened,  did  they 
began  to  wake  up.  They  began  to  realize  that 
the  comparatively  simple  expedients  of  govern- 
ment of  their  fathers  were  not  fitted  to  assure 
the  continuance  of  these  same  institutions 
today  Avith  the  same  degree  of  comparative  ef- 
ficiency and  the  same  measure  of  service.  They 
began  to  appreciate  that  they  were  confronted 
with  a  serious  municipal  problem.  The  wonder 
is  that  this  system  did  not  break  doA\Ti  more 


The  Problem  of  Home  Rule  11 

completely ;  that  it  did  not,  must  be  considered 
not  as  a  vindication  of  the  sort  of  government 
they  had,  but  rather  as  an  indication  of  the 
inherent  strength  and  tenacity  of  the  venerable 
principles  of  local  self-government. 

This  was  the  background  of  complacent  ac- 
quiescence in  civic  inertia  that  those  who  first 
seriously  began  to  devote  themselves  to  a  study 
of  the  municipal  problem  discovered.  The  im- 
mediate problem  was  three-fold.  It  required 
first  an  understanding  of  the  reasons  for  exist- 
ing conditions,  then  the  construction  of  a  brand 
new  set  of  principles  to  be  applied  to  the  solu- 
tion, and  finally  and  most  difficult  of  all  the 
transformation  of  this  inertia  of  acquiescence 
into  an  active  force  of  protest,  that  would  in 
time  compel  the  acceptance  of  the  new  princi- 
ples. Only  partially  and  very  incompletely  has 
this  latter  result  been  achieved. 

It  was  clear  at  the  outset  that  one  of  the  most 
serious  obstacles  in  the  way  of  success  was  the 
activity  of  national  political  parties  in  the  field 
of  local  politics.  That  evil,  as  already  pointed 
out,  has  meant  the  habitual  sacrifice  of  real  local 
needs  to  the  partisan  needs  of  a  national  polit- 
ical party ;  it  has  meant  legislative  interference 
with  the  affairs  of  cities  by  means  of  mandatory 
legislation  frequently  for  purely  partisan  ad- 


12     Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

vantage ;  it  has  meant  a  general  disorder  in  city- 
affairs  and  a  complete  lack  of  any  sense  of  civic 
responsibility;  it  has  meant  extravagance, 
waste,  inefficiency  and  mal-administration.  i 

Another  obstacle  appeared  in  the  fact  that  ex- 
isting forms  of  city  government  were  clearly 
unsuited  to  meet  the  demands  of  a  complex  mod- 
ern city  in  which  purely  administrative  func- 
tions— that  is  to  say  business  functions — out- 
weighed the  political  functions  nine  to  one.  A 
third  obstacle  was  disclosed  in  the  wholly  in- 
adequate powers  of  a  city  to  control  its  own 
budget,  its  owti  officers  and  employees,  and  its 
own  property^  The  difficulty  here  involved  not 
only  the  conferring  of  larger  powers  on  cities 
that  would  enable  them  to  exercise  this  control 
but,  as  will  be  developed  in  a  later  chapter,  a 
change  in  the  long  standing  attitude  of  the 
courts  in  construing  municipal  powers,  not  lib- 
erally, but  narrowly. 

The  endeavor  to  find  some  remedy  that 
would  tend  to  cure  all  these  municipal  ills,  has 
led  to  the  conviction  that  the  only  solution  lies 
in  a  recognition  of  the  city  not  only  as  a  politi- 
cal organization  fully  capable  of  governing  it- 
self for  the  best  interests  of  its  otvti  inhabitants 
and  with  full  consideration  of  the  interests  of 
the  state  as  a  whole,  but  also  as  a  social  or  ad- 


The  Problem  of  Home  Rule  13 

ministrative  unit,  able  and  fully  equipped  to  do 
its  own  municipal  housekeeping.  In  brief  this 
means  home  rule. 

There  are  many  ways  in  which  cities  may  be 
likened  to  individuals.  Cities  develope  traits  or 
habits  of  thought  or  methods  of  work  very  much 
as  men  do.  A  man  who  never  has  an  opportun- 
ity to  test  his  own  capacity  for  accomplish- 
ment, who  has  never  been  called  on  to  undertake 
anything  which  would  develope  his  confidence  in 
himself,  who  has  never  felt  the  sense  of  respon- 
sibility for  his  acts,  will  not  ordinarily  develope 
a  capacity  for  achievement,  a  self-reliant  spirit, 
an  ambition  or  determination  to  do  things  for 
the  welfare  of  those  who  rely  on  him  and  are  en- 
trusted to  his  care.  In  other  words,  he  may 
never  really  **find  himself.'' 

It  is  much  the  same  with  a  city.  A  very 
great  deal  of  the  distrust  expressed  by  those 
who  doubt  the  wisdom  of  municipal  home  rule, 
can  be  traced  to  the  fact  that  the  critics  are 
fearful  that  cities  will  not  be  able  to  stand  the 
test.  These  doubters  fear  that  the  effect  of 
granting  extensive  powers  of  home  rule  to  cit- 
ies will  put  too  great  a  strain  on  the  cities  and 
their  inhabitants.  They  are  afraid  that  the 
residents  of  a  city  mil  not  be  able  to  manage  its 
affairs  by  themselves  so  well  as  they  have  been 


14    Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

managed  in  the  past,  with  the  assistance  of  a 
state  legislature.  They  are  fearful  that  the  im- 
position of  new  duties  and  new  powers  on  the 
city  authorities  wdll  raise  new  political  issues 
that  will  be  capitalized  by  political  machines. 
They  think  they  see  a  greater  field  for  the  ex- 
ploitation of  the  city  by  **  special  interests,"  po- 
litical bosses  and  machine  rings.  They  are  ap- 
prehensive that  the  right  of  citizens  will  not  be 
so  well  conserved  as  under  a  system  in  which 
the  strong  hand  of  the  state  is  forever  extended 
to  correct  evils,  check  extravagances  or  main- 
tain a  proper  balance.  They  seem  to  be 
convinced  that  the  municipal  rulers  Avill  straight- 
way embark  into  all  sorts  of  municipal  profli- 
gacies and  extravagances  without  let  or 
hindrance.  They  conjure  up  ghosts  of  munici- 
pal bankruptcy;  they  prophesy  an  impairment 
of  the  sovereign  rights  of  the  state;  they  see 
state  laws  ignored  and  view  with  concern  the 
destruction  of  the  historically  sacred  doctrine 
of  the  separation  of  powers. 

When  you  come  right  down  to  it,  what  these 
critics  have  in  mind,  but  what  they  are  afraid 
to  express  in  so  many  words,  is  a  distrust  of 
the  ability  of  the  people  of  a  city  to  rule  them- 
selves. Possibly  they  would  not  go  so  far  as 
to  express  a  distrust  in  democratic  government. 


The  Problem  of  Home  Rule  15 

But  the  thonght  is  there.  Its  origin  is  clear. 
And  it  must  be  admitted  that  a  review  of  the 
history  of  municipal  government  in  America 
would  seem  to  indicate  that  this  distrust  is  more 
or  less  justified.  For  certainly  until  recently 
there  has  been  little  if  anything  in  the  long  his- 
tory of  scandal  and  neglect  and  gross  misman- 
agement in  the  government  of  our  cities  under 
old  conditions  to  justify  a  hope  or  faith  in  the 
ability  of  cities  to  govern  themselves  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  afford  the  best  government  for 
their  citizens.  But  what  these  critics  do  not  re- 
member or  appear  not  to  see  is  that  had  this 
spirit  of  distrust  prevailed  over  the  hopes  of 
our  forefathers,  it  would  have  had  the  result  of 
frustrating  all  their  attempts  to  establish  a 
democratic  form  of  government  in  this  country. 
The  men  who  left  Europe  and  settled  in  this 
country  entertained  no  doubt  of  their  ability  to 
govern  themselves  for  their  own  highest  good. 
History  has  justified  their  self-confidence.  No 
student  of  history  can  doubt  that  their  succes- 
sors on  whom  is  imposed  the  task  of  governing 
our  American  cities  would  likewise  furnish  an 
example  to  posterity  if  given  a  chance. 

The  very  fact  that  throughout  a  long  century 
of  neglect,  and  despite  repression  and  discour- 
agement the  spirit  of  free  local  government 


16    Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

which  our  forefathers  brought  with  them  across 
the  Atlantic,  has  remained  alive  in  the  land, 
and  is  now  showing  unmistakable  signs  of  as- 
serting itself,  is  indication  enough  of  the  base- 
lessness of  the  fears  expressed  by  these  cau- 
tious conservatives.  Local  government  comes 
closer  to  the  people  than  any  other.  It  is  basic. 
It  is  through  its  exercise  that  men  acquire  most 
of  their  political  schooling  and  become  familiar 
with  what  free  democratic  institutions  mean. 
As  de  Tocqueville  phrased  it  in  his  discussion  of 
American  local  government,  **  Municipal  insti- 
tutions are  to  liberty  what  primary  schools  are 
to  science;  they  bring  it  within  the  people's 
reach;  they  teach  men  how  to  use  and  how  to 
enjoy  it.  A  nation  may  establish  a  free  govern- 
ment, but  without  the  spirit  of  municipal  insti- 
tutions it  cannot  have  the  spirit  of  liberty." 

There  are  certain  reasons,  however,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  historical  one,  why  these  doubts  as  to 
the  capacity  of  cities  to  govern  themselves,  so 
far  as  they  affect  the  future  may  be  looked  upon 
as  unjustified  and  baseless. 

The  history  of  the  municipal  movement  in  the 
United  States  during  the  past  decade  has 
proved  beyond  all  doubt  that  cities  can  be 
be  trusted  to  govern  themselves  without  ruin- 
ing   themselves    financially,    without    placing 


The  Problem  of  Home  Rule  17 

themselves  at  the  mercy  of  political  rings,  and 
without  in  the  least  destroying  either  the  sov- 
ereignty of  the  state,  or  their  own  representa- 
tive form  of  government. 

To  begin  with,  as  a  basis  for  onr  confidence, 
we  have  the  existence  of  a  new  municipal  spirit 
and  the  growth  of  a  stronger  sense  of  municipal 
solidarity  and  responsibility.  Under  these  con- 
ditions in  practice  the  conferring  of  enlarged 
home  rule  powers  on  cities  has  had  the  effect 
of  greatly  increasing  the  sense  of  municipal  re- 
sponsibility. By  bringing  the  city  government 
closer  to  the  people  it  has  aroused  interest  ill 
municipal  affairs  and  civic  agencies  to  a  greater 
extent  than  ever  before.  With  every  increase 
in  the  power  of  a  city  to  do  things,  there  is  an 
increase  in  the  interest  of  its  citizens  who  are 
concerned  in  seeing  that  what  is  done  shall  be 
done  right.  Thus  the  broadening  of  the  scope 
of  a  city's  educational  system,  its  attempt  to 
bring  education  into  the  home,  to  provide  night 
schools  and  vocational  schools,  cannot  but 
arouse  a  greater  interest  in  what  the  city  is 
doing  in  all  who  are  interested  in  education  or 
who  are  seeking  knowledge.  Thus,  also,  the 
entry  of  cities  into  social  work  of  one  sort  and 
another,  their  interest  in  the  proper  housing  of 
their  inhabitants,  in  solving  problems  of  conges- 


18    Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

tion  of  population,  in  affording  adequate  trans- 
portation facilities,  in  providing  better  mar- 
kets, in  decreasing  the  death  rate  of  babies — all 
these  things  bring  the  government  closer  to  the 
people. 

Under  the  conditions  existing  in  our  munici- 
palities a  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  most  of 
these  things  were  scarcely  conceived  of  as 
likely  to  come  within  the  range  of  municipal  ac- 
tivity. There  are  few  cities  in  the  country  that 
are  not  making  progress  along  these  lines  today. 
^  The  wonderfully  rapid  growth  and  develop- 
ment of  cities,  the  massing  of  population  in 
cities,  has  served  to  force  a  consideration  of 
the  city  as  something  more  than  the  mere  agent 
of  the  state,  and  to  bring  about  a  realization 
that  the  city  is  primarily  an  organization  for 
the  satisfaction  of  the  needs  of  its  inhabitants. 
As  it  became  clear  that  the  constitution,  the  laws 
and  the  courts  stood  in  the  way  of  a  proper  ad- 
justment of  the  city  to  this  larger  field  of  serv- 
ice, men  set  their  minds  to  working  out  a  solu- 
tion of  the  problem.  As  Dr.  Frank  J.  Goodnow 
has  put  it,  a  *  *  study  of  the  history  of  municipal 
development  shows  us  that  the  too  extensive  ex- 
ercise of  the  control  of  the  state  over  the  munici- 
pality prevents  the  development  in  the  munici- 
pality of  that  local  life  whose  existence  is  so 


The  Problem  of  Home  Rule         19 

requisite  to  the  proper  occupation  of  that  great 
field  of  activity  opened  to  the  modern  munici- 
pality by  the  social  development  of  the  nine- 
teenth century. ' ' 

It  took  very  little  study  to  see  that  the  dif- 
ficulty could  only  be  removed  by  conferring  on 
the  city  itself  a  considerably  larger  measure 
of  power  to  do  the  things  necessary  to  satisfy 
these  growing  needs.  There  and  then  started 
the  demand  for  municipal  home  rule.  The  de- 
mand in  its  inception,  it  A\ill  be  seen,  was  based 
not  so  much  on  a  feeling  that  there  needed  to 
be  a  reversal  of  the  traditional  legal  theory  as 
to  what  constituted  state  powers,  as  to  a  real- 
ization that  the  city  alone  could  safely  and  ade- 
quately occupy  the  new  fields  of  activity  and  op- 
portunity that  had  been  developed  with  the  in- 
increasing  complexity  and  variety  of  urban 
growth. 

Many  of  the  things  necessary  to  satisfy  these 
needs,  to  be  sure,  can  be  accomplished  under 
old  form  charters  or  under  existing  state  laws, 
and  in  spite  of  certain  constitutional  restric- 
tions. But  they  are  all  a  part  of  a  city's  power 
to  control  its  own  affairs  for  the  highest  good 
of  all  its  inhabitants  and  as  such  are  clearly 
home  rule  powers.  And  it  is  every  day  grow- 
ing clearer  that  the  most  complete  and  satisfac- 


20    Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

tory  working  out  of  these  problems  cannot  be 
had  if  a  city  is  hampered  and  handicapped  by 
needless  constitutional  restrictions  and  com- 
pelled to  worry  along  under  a  form  of  govern- 
ment ill-suited  to  its  development  and  created 
under  an  historical  misconception  of  a  city  gov- 
ernment as  a  mere  political  agent  for  the  en- 
forcement of  state  laws,  rather  than  a  complex 
social  and  business  instrument,  entrusted  to  the 
care  of  the  people  who  live  under  it,  to  use  for 
their  own  highest  good. 


CHAPTER   II 


THE  BASIS  OF  HOME  RULE 


Before  entering  into  a  discussion  of  the  vari- 
ous means  that  American  cities,  operating  un- 
der a  variety  of  constitutional  and  statutory- 
grants  of  power,  are  adopting  to  enable  them  to 
control  their  own  property,  affairs  and  govern- 
ment, it  is  worth  while  considering  what  the 
essential  basis  for  municipal  home  rule  really 
is.  We  shall  find  this  as  easy  to  define  as  it  is 
difficult  to  construct  and  maintain.  We  shall 
readily  discover  that  municipal  home  rule,  to 
be  either  permanent  or  effective,  must  rest  not 
alone  on  charters  and  statutes  which  are  sub- 
ject to  change  by  every  succeeding  state  legis- 
lature, not  alone  on  the  habitually  strict  judicial 
interpretation  of  a  city's  power,  not  alone  on 
vigorous  and  inelligent  determination  of  the 
people  of  a  city  to  control  their  own  affairs. 
Nor,  it  will  be  evident,  would  all  three  of  these 
factors  working  together  be  sufficient.  The  true 
!  basis  of  municipal  home  rule  must  be  a  constitu-  ^ 

21 


22    Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

iional  grant  of  power  sufficiently  broad  to  en- 
able cities  to  rule  themselves  so  far  as  their 
own  government  and  affairs  are  concerned  with- 
out outside  assistance  or  interference.  Such  a 
grant  must  embody  in  the  basic  law  of  the  state 
a  broad  statement  of  the  home  rule  principle 
which  will  have  the  effect  of  marking  out  a  well- 
defined  field  in  which  cities  may  exercise  their 
exclusive  authority. 

^  When  this  has  been  accomplished  it  lies 
within  the  province,  and  it  must  be  made  the 
duty,  of  the  legislature  to  fill  in  the  framework 
by  appropriate  general  legislation;  it  remains 
for  the  courts  to  define  and  determine  on  a 
broad  and  liberal  basis  the  extent  and  applica- 
tion of  the  constitutional  grant;  it  lies  finally 
with  the  people  to  justify  the  faith  thus  ex- 
pressed in  their  capacity  to  govern  themselves 
by  the  constant  exercise  of  a  vigilant  and  jeal- 
ous insistence  on  their  rights  and  by  the  free 
and  intelligent  choice  of  public  officers  who  will 
see  that  the  affairs  of  the  city  are  administered 
for  the  benefit  of  those  that  dwell  therein. 

To  understand  why  it  is  so  essential  to  have 
a  constitutional  basis  for  municipal  home  rule 
in  the  United  States  it  will  be  necessary  to  re- 
view briefly  the  steps  in  the  development  of  city 
government  in  America  and  find  out  just  why  , 


The  Basis  of  Home  Rule  23 

it  is  that  we  mnst  have  a  constitutional  grant 
in  this  country  while  European  cities,  enjoying 
incomparably  greater  freedom  of  self-govern- 
ment, get  along  without  it. 

The  analogy  has  often  been  drawn  between 
American  and  European  cities  and  the  legiti- 
mate argument  advanced  that  we  ought  to  learn 
much  from  the  government  and  administration 
of  cities  in  the  old  world.  There  is  a  great  deal 
of  truth  in  this  statement,  but  it  can  only  be 
taken  with  reservation.  We  cannot,  for  in- 
stance, argue  that  what  is  or  has  been  true  of 
European  cities  must  be  true  of  American 
cities.  The  principal  difficulty  in  such  an  anal- 
ogy lies  in  a  fundamental  difference  in  the  po- 
litical conception  of  the  relationship  between 
cities  and  the  state  in  this  country  and  Europe. 

European  cities  have  a  definite  legal  status. 
But  they  have  no  legal  rights  or  powers  as 
against  the  state.  They  are  subject  to  the  prac- 
tically unrestricted  will  of  a  central  authority. 
That  this  will  is  not  autocratically  exercised 
and  that  they  enjoy  a  large  measure  of  home 
rule  is  due  not  to  statutory  or  constitutional 
provisions  or  even  to  powers  conferred  upon 
them  by  their  charters,  but  rather  to  the  en- 
lightened policy  which  the  central  government 
has  adopted  toward  the  cities.     This  attitude 


24    Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

has  been  one  of  f  orebearance  in  the  exercise  of 
the  autocratic  control  which  as  a  matter  of  fact 
it  possesses.  European  cities  enjoy  home  rule 
by  custom  or  by  precedent  rather  than  by  statu- 
tory right.  In  emergencies  the  central  govern- 
ment can  and  does  assume  the  powers  which  it 
has  allowed  cities  to  exercise.  We  have  had 
numerous  examples  of  this  in  Europe  since  the 
outbreak  of  the  Great  War,  particularly  in  Ger- 
many, where  the  central  government  has  seen 
fit  to  exercise  powers  in  municipalities,  or  has 
dictated  matters  of  municipal  policy,  under  a 
species  of  martial  law,  which  it  has  heretofore 
allowed  the  cities  to  exercise  undisturbed. 

Home  rule  in  the  United  States,  therefore, 
must  be  considered  in  a  different  light  from 
home  rule  in  Europe.  To  a  European,  munic- 
ipal home  rule  means  the  enjoyment  of  rights 
based  on  long  established  custom.  Here  in  the 
United  States  it  means  the  enjoyment  of  rights 
granted  by  the  law  and  the  constitution. 

Because  of  this  difference  in  the  fundamental 
basis  of  municipal  powers  in  Europe  and  Amer- 
ica, there  is  no  parallel  in  Europe  to  the  great 
body  of  statutory  and  constitutional  provisions 
protecting  the  property  and  rights  of  individ- 
uals and  protecting  municipalities  against  the 
interference  of  state  legislatures  which  has  led 


The  Basis  of  Home  Rule  25 

in  the  United  States  to  the  development  of  a 
great  system  of  public  law  regulating  munic- 
ipal corporations,  entirely  unknown  in  Europe. 
The  problem  of  municipal  home  rule  in  the 
United  States  is  the  problem  of  a  proper  adjust- 
ment of  the  relations  of  the  city  and  the  state, 
a  delimitation  of  their  respective  powers,  a  limi- 
tation of  the  authority  of  one  and  the  other. 
No  question  has  been  more  frequently  the  sub- 
ject of  legislative  and  legal  squabbles  and  con- 
flicts of  opinion.  No  problem  has  been  more 
frequently  in  the  courts  than  that  dealing  with 
the  relative  powers  of  the  state  and  the  munici- 
palities within  its  boundaries.  This  has  been 
true  not  alone  of  those  states  in  which  there  has 
not  yet  been  any  definite  effort  to  solve  the 
problem  of  municipal  home  rule  by  statute  or 
constitutional  amendment,  but  even  in  those 
states  where  so-called  home  rule  provisions 
have  been  incorporated  in  the  constitutions. 
The  difficulty  is  primarily  due  to  a  superficial 
idea  of  the  relations  between  cities  and  the 
state,  the  injustice  of  which  we  are  only  now 
beginning  to  comprehend.  It  is  difficult  for  the 
courts  to  break  away  from  the  precedents  and 
decisions  of  other  days.  It  is  almost  impossible 
for  lawmakers  and  constitution  builders  to  be 
convinced  that  they  are  not  abdicating  any 


26    Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

essential  and  proper  power  of  the  state  when 
they  grant  cities  home  rule.  It  is  hard  for  a 
legislature  to  forego  its  long-time  habit  of 
meddling  in  the  affairs  of  localities.  Yet  these 
things  must  be  stopped  before  we  have  munic- 
ipal home  rule.  The  constitution-makers  must 
provide  boldly  for  a  change  in  this  relationship. 
The  legislature  must  accept  the  new  situation 
and  keep  its  hands  off  the  cities.  The  courts 
must  adopt  a  new  point  of  view  in  regard  to 
the  construction  of  statutes,  shifting  the  pre- 
sumption in  case  of  doubt  as  to  the  possession 
of  a  certain  power  from  the  state,  where  it  has 
been  lodged,  to  the  city  where  it  belongs. 

A  fundamental  difficulty  with  the  delimitation 
of  the  powers  of  a  city  and  the  state  in  this 
country  lies  in  the  long  accepted  legal  concep- 
tion of  the  character  of  a  city  not  as  primarily 
a  self-governing  community  but  as  a  corporate 
body  and  agent  of  the  state,  and  of  the  judicial 
interpretation  of  its  powers  based  on  that  con- 
ception. At  the  start  there  was  the  rule  of 
law  which  conceived  of  the  municipal  corpora- 
tion, as  a  mere  creature  of  the  state,  enjoying 
only  such  powers  as  were  specifically  delegated 
to  it.  Lacking  a  broad  general  grant  of  powers, 
it  was  held  that  the  city  possessed  only  such 
powers  as  were  specifically  granted  to  it.    In 


The  Basis  of  Home  Rule  27 

cases  of  doubt  the  authorities,  judicial,  execu- 
tive and  legislative,  proceeded  on  the  theory 
that  the  burden  of  proof  was  on  the  city.  This 
presumption  "was  upheld  in  the  courts  and  gen- 
erations of  piled-up  precedents  have  formed  a 
rigid  legal  barrier  that  it  is  difficult  today  to 
shake. 

What  a  tremendous  handicap  this  has  proved 
to  our  cities  it  is  easy  to  see.  It  is  clear  that 
any  attempt  to  provide  cities  with  home  rule 
powers  must  strike  at  this  root  of  all  the  evil. 
Instead  of  proceeding  on  the  assumption  that  a 
city  has  only  the  powers  enumerated  in  its  char- 
ter and  that  for  the  authority  to  do  anything 
else  it  must  obtain  a  grant  of  power  from  the 
legislature,  the  advocates  of  home  rule  are  com- 
ing to  take  the  ground  that  the  constitution  must 
provide  a  general  grant  of  powers  to  cities. 
They  hold  that  this  general  grant  should  give 
cities  the  right  to  frame,  amend  and  adopt  char- 
ters and  to  regulate  matters  relating  to  their 
own  property,  atfairs  and  government,  subject 
only  to  the  constitution  and  the  general  laws  of 
the  state.  It  will  be  readily  seen  that  this  read- 
justment of  the  idea  of  the  relative  powers  of 
the  city  and  the  state  means  a  reversal  of  the 
traditional  rule  of  law  in  which  the  presump- 
tion was  always  in  favor  of  the  state. 


28    Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

This  distorted  conception  of  the  political 
character  of  cities  came  to  be  established  in  the 
United  States  through  one  of  those  amazingly 
illogical  institutional  developments  that  have 
provided  so  many  striking  inconsistencies  in  our 
country's  history.  The  colonial  charters  based 
on  royal  grants  were  looked  upon  as  mere  cer- 
tificates of  incorporation  which  were  unchange- 
able so  far  as  the  grantees  were  concerned  but 
which  might  be  modified  or  wholly  abrogated  at 
any  time  at  the  will  of  the  grantor.  With  the 
earliest  beginnings  of  city  growth  in  the  col- 
onies, it  became  evident  that  some  sort  of  char- 
ters ought  to  be  granted  them  under  which  they 
might  carry  on  their  simple  governmental  func- 
tions. So  we  find  the  earliest  city  charters  in 
this  country  simple  statements  of  incorporation 
with  a  grant  of  authority  which  enabled  the 
citizens  to  carry  on  their  local  government  in 
the  restricted  field  that  municipalities  then  oc- 
cupied. These  early  charters,  which  were  based 
so  far  as  form  is  concerned  on  the  municipal 
charters  then  in  force  in  England,  were  re- 
garded as  contracts  between  the  residents  of 
the  city  and  the  central  authorities.  So  far  as 
powers  conferred  went  they  were  little  more 
than  grants  of  authority  for  the  exercise  of 
police  powers  as  the  agent  of  the  central  power. 


The  Basis  of  Home  Rule  29 

They  proved  fairly  adequate,  however,  because 
the  preservation  of  order  and  the  safety  of  the 
citizens  was  about  all  the  governmental  func- 
tions then  exercised  by  local  officers,  and  be- 
cause none  conceived  then  of  a  condition  in 
which  cities  would  be  compelled  to  enter  upon 
the  construction  and  operation  of  great  public 
works,  or  concern  themselves  at  all  with  the 
social  and  economic  life  and  welfare  of  the  com- 
munities. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  cities  were  probably  in 
many  respects  freer  to  do  a  great  many  things 
of  their  oAvn  accord  under  these  simple  char- 
ters of  incorporation  than  they  are  today,  but 
they  did  them,  not  because  they  were  actually 
empowered  to  do  them,  but  merely  because  no 
central  authority  was  enough  interested  in  their 
local  affairs  to  question  their  right  to  act.  Then 
came  the  American  Eevolution.  It  was  not  until 
after  this  that  the  cities  of  America  and  their 
English  prototypes  began  to  assume  divergent 
lines  of  development.  In  England  the  old  bor- 
ough type  of  city  government,  fostered  rather 
than  restricted  so  far  as  its  powers  of  local 
government  were  concerned,  gradually  evolved 
into  the  English  city  of  today  with  its  extraordi- 
nary control  over  its  own  affairs  and  govern- 
ment.    In  America,   on  the   other  hand,  the 


30    Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

development  was  in  the  direction  of  a  restric- 
tion rather  than  an  increase  of  local  powers. 

It  was  at  this  point  too  that  American  cities 
began  to  be  fettered  by  the  imposition  of  char- 
ters patterned  on  the  federal  plan,  with  its 
separation  of  powers  and  frequently  following 
the  federal  analogy  even  to  the  establishment 
of  a  bicameral  local  legislature.  This  practice 
became  rigidly  fixed  through  the  custom  of 
granting  charters  by  special  acts  of  the  state 
legislature  by  means  of  which  the  lawmakers 
imposed  on  cities  the  only  form  of  government 
they  knew  anything  about,  without  any  real  con- 
sideration of  whether  or  not  it  was  the  form 
best  fitted  to  municipal  growth  and  develop- 
ment. That  they  had  no  remote  conception  of 
what  that  growth  was  likely  to  be  is  the  only 
possible  explanation  of  such  unstatesmanlike 
procedure.  These  city  charters,  besides  impos- 
ing a  fixed  form  of  government,  as  a  rule  set 
strict  limitations  on  the  powers  of  cities,  the 
early  state  constitutions  usually  emphasizing 
the  restriction  by  conferring  the  exclusive  legis- 
lative power  on  the  state  legislature  and  ignor- 
ing the  existence  of  cities  entirely.  As  a  rule 
these  early  legislative  charters  merely  con- 
ferred the  customary  police  power,  granted 
a  limited  judicial  authority  to  be   exercised 


The  Basis  of  Home  Rule  31 

throngh  local  courts  and  magistrates  and  gave 
the  cities  control  of  such  public  property,  usu- 
ally of  small  importance  or  value,  which  the 
charter  itself  intrusted  to  them.  There  was  of 
course  no  power  to  tax,  no  authority  to  acquire 
property  or  to  construct  public  works,  nor  to 
provide  for  the  welfare  of  the  inhabitants. 

It  was  this  narrow  restriction  of  its  powers 
both  by  the  terms  of  the  state  constitution  and 
of  the  charter,  no  less  than  the  handicap  of  the 
rigid  and  cumbersome  federal  form,*  narrowly 
interpreted  and  upheld  by  the  courts,  that  led 
to  the  practice  of  cities  seeking  relief  from  the 
state  legislatures  whenever  the  necessity  arose. 
Naturally  as  cities  multiplied  and  increased  in 
size,  their  needs  grew  likewise  and  this  recourse 
to  the  relief  of  special  acts  of  the  legislature 
grew  more  frequent.  At  first  the  evil  effects  of 
the  practice  were  not  appreciated.  In  the  be- 
ginning the  legislatures  did  not  often  seek  to 
arrogate  to  themselves  unlimited  authority  over 
the  cities  and  were  in  practice  inclined  to  act 
only  when  asked  to  act  by  the  cities  themselves. 


♦How  this  peculiarly  distorted  view  of  the  sacredness  of 
the  federal  form  has  persisted,  was  emphasized  as  recently 
as  March,  1917,  when  a  justice  of  the  New  York  Supreme 
Court  expressed  the  extraordinary  opinion  that  a  form  of 
city  government  which,  like  the  commission  or  city  manager 
form,  did  not  provide  for  the  separation  of  powers,  was  in 
conflict  with  the  provison  of  the  Federal  Constitution  assur- 
ing a  republican  form  of  government. 


32    Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

But  as  precedents  piled  up  the  habit  of  interfer- 
ence, once  formed,  became  rigidly  fixed.  Two 
factors  contributed  to  increase  the  frequency 
of  legislative  interference.  One  was  the  growth 
in  power  and  influence  of  the  great  political 
parties ;  the  other  was  the  growth  of  the  cities 
themselves  not  only  in  wealth  but  in  the  political 
influence  that  came  with  the  massing  of  great 
bodies  of  voters.  The  political  party  leaders, 
acting  through  the  legislature,  were  not  slow 
to  realize  the  value  of  the  city  as  a  partisan 
asset.  But  to  them  it  was  not  an  asset  to  be 
conserved  but  to  be  exploited.  Slowly  what- 
ever there  was  remaining  of  the  contractual 
character  in  city  charters  disappeared  under  the 
stress  of  this  new  political  need.  It  was  this 
assumption  of  authority  on  the  part  of  legis- 
latures, sustained  in  the  courts  by  short-sighted 
or  narrow-minded  judges,  who  followed  rigidly 
the  letter  of  the  law  but  ignored  the  spirit  of 
it,  that  became  the  principal  source  of  the  num- 
berless municipal  ills,  and  constituted  the  great- 
est burden  that  cities  fell  heir  to.  It  was  the 
thoughtless  and  selfish  abuse  of  this  legislative 
practice  for  partisan  purposes  that  in  the  end 
gave  rise  to  the  demand  for  municipal  home 
rule. 

So  serious  had  this  situation  become  in  the 


The  Basis  of  Home  Rule  33 

years  immediately  following  the  Civil  War  that 
men  with  foresight  began  to  cast  about  for 
means  to  check  a  tendency  which  they  had  come 
to  realize  was  increasing  daily  the  burdens  un- 
der which  cities  were  laboring.  Even  then  they 
did  not  fully  appreciate  the  situation.  They 
did  not  at  first — ^nor  indeed  for  many  years  to 
come — attempt  to  attack  the  problem  by  attack- 
ing the  partisan  oligarchies  which  ruled  our 
cities.  But  they  did  see  clearly  that  legislative 
interference  was  threatening  the  very  existence 
of  local  self-government  and  they  sought  some 
effective  means  of  checking  the  evil.  Their 
efforts  were  first  directed  at  limiting  or  pro- 
hibiting special  local  legislation.  The  means 
adopted  were  different  in  different  states,  some 
attacking  the  evil  directly  and  others  in  a  more 
or  less  roundabout  way,  some  relying  on  sta- 
tutes, others  providing  constitutional  checks. 
Where  an  earnest  effort  was  made  to  solve  the 
trouble  these  various  provisions  worked  with 
more  or  less  success  for  the  time  being.  But 
the  ingenuity  of  politicians,  itching  to  meddle 
in  local  affairs,  found  numerous  ways  to  circum- 
vent both  statutes  and  constitutional  provisions. 
In  so  doing  these  legislative  tinkerers  were  al- 
most certain  to  be  upheld  by  literal  minded 
judges  whenever  the  question  of  a  city's  powers 


34    Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

as  against  that  of  the  state  was  submitted  to 
^  them.  New  York  State,  for  instance,  adopted 
the  plan  of  a  classification  of  cities  in  its  new 
constitution  of  1894,  and  accorded  cities  the 
power  of  the  suspensive  veto  on  legislation 
affecting  them,  whereby  cities  were  supposed  to 
be  able  to  prevent  the  enactment  of  any  legisla- 
tion they  did  not  approve.*  The  scheme  of 
classification  had  been  tried  on  many  occasions 
before  this,  but  it  had  proved  too  easily  cir- 
cumvented to  be  of  any  real  or  lasting  value. 
Provisions  restricting  the  legislatures  to  the 
enactment  of  general  laws  for  the  incorporation 
of  cities  were  lil?:ewise  easily  weakened  or  per- 
verted and  it  was  soon  recognized  that  without 
some  adequate  constitutional  grant  of  poAver  to 
cities  any  scheme  of  general  legislation  left  the 
cities  about  as  badly  off  as  they  were  before. 
Likewise  the  uniform  charter  idea  was  found 
to  be  inapplicable  with  any  degree  of  success 
where  cities  varied  largely  in  size  and  charac- 
teristics. So  although  these  attempts  at  solv- 
ing the  problem  did  in  many  instances  serve  to 
check  the  flood  of  local  legislation  temporarily 
and  did  provide  some  safeguard  against  un- 
restricted anti-home  rule  legislation,  it  soon  be- 
came evident  that  they  did  not  really  put  a  stop 


♦See  Appendix  A. 


The  Basis  of  Home  Rule  35 

to  the  evil  and  liad  no  real  effect  so  far  as  an 
increase  of  home  rule  powers  was  concerned. 

A  more  fundamental  attack  on  the  evil  con- 
sisted in  the  incorporation  of  so-called  home 
rule  provisions  in  the  constitutions  of  several 
states.  The  first  state  to  adopt  such  a  provision 
was  Missouri  in  1875.  California  followed  in 
1879,  since  which  time  ten  other  states,  twelve 
all  told,  have  provided  with  varying  degrees  of 
completeness  for  a  constitutional  grant  of  home 
rule  to  cities.  The  other  states  in  the  order  in 
which  action  was  taken  are  Washington,  1889 ; 
Minnesota,  1896;  Colorado,  1902;  Oregon,  1906; 
Oklahoma,  1908;  Michigan,  1908;  and  Arizona, 
Oliio,  Nebraska  and  Texas,  all  in  1912.  These 
various  constitutional  home  rule  grants  differ 
considerably  both  as  to  definiteness  and  scope. 
It  is  only  natural  that  the  judicial  interpreta- 
tion of  their  meaning  should  have  accentuated 
the  difference  in  many  instances.* 

There  appeared  at  first  in  these  so-called 
home  rule  states  a  natural  tendency  on  the  part 
of  the  courts  to  construe  the  grant  of  home  rule 
powers  narrowly  in  most  instances.    It  is  im- 


*We  have  only  recently  had  the  benefit  of  a  full  and 
scholarly  study  of  the  constitutional  and  legal  aspects  of 
municipal  home  rule,  as  set  forth  in  the  laws  and  constitu- 
tions and  interpreted  by  the  courts,  in  the  exceedingly  valu- 
able volume  by  Prof.  Howard  Lee  McBain,  of  Columbia 
University,  "The  Law  and  the  Practice  of  Municipal  Home 
Rule."     (Columbia  University  Press,  1916.) 


36    Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

possible  here  to  follow  or  to  discuss  in  detail 
the  many  specific  instances  which  illustrate  the 
practical  working  of  the  home  rule  provisions, 
or  the  curiously  divergent  construction  put 
upon  the  grants  in  different  states  where  spe- 
cific problems  involving  the  meaning  or  scope 
of  the  constitution  or  statutes  based  upon  them, 
have  been  submitted  to  the  courts  for  determi- 
nation or  definition.  A  cursory  study  of  the 
practical  operation  of  these  provisions  and  of 
their  judicial  interpretation  makes  it  clear,  how- 
ever, that  it  is  unhappily  true  that  home  rule 
grants  in  a  state  constitution,  however  neces- 
sary as  a  basis  for  home  rule,  have  not  by  any 
means  in  all  cases  assured  adequate  local  gov- 
ernment powers  to  the  cities.*  It  is  equally  true 
that  home  rule  means  different  things  in  differ- 
ent states  both  as  observed  or  applied  by  the 
state  legislature  and  as  interpreted  by  the 
courts.  In  view  of  this  perplexing  situation  the 
question  will  naturally  arise  whether  there  is 
ever  likely  to  be  found  a  solution  of  a  problem 
that  in  itself  is  conceived  so  differently  and  on 
the  whole  presents  an  aspect  of  such  limitless 
uncertainty  and  chaos?     Important   as  is  a 


*The  case  of  St.  Paul,  Minnesota,  has  often  been  cited  to 
illustrate  this  point.  St.  Paul  possesses  a  home  rule  charter 
under  the  state  constitution,  yet  between  1900  and  191 1  the 
city  charter  was  amended  no  less  than  three  hundred  and 
thirteen  times. 


The  Basis  of  Home  Rule  37 

changed  and  liberalized  attitude  on  the  part  of 
the  courts  where  the  respective  rights  of  the 
city  and  state  are  to  be  defined,  it  is,  as  experi- 
ence has  proved,  neither  fair  nor  satisfactory 
to  leave  the  phraseology  of  our  home  rule  pro- 
visions so  hazy  and  indefinite  as  to  impose  on 
the  courts  the  heavy  burden  of  clarifying  the 
meaning  in  such  important  particulars. 

The  task  then  for  those  who  turn  themselves 
to  a  solution  of  the  problem  is  to  frame  a  pro- 
posal for  municipal  home  rule  that  will  be  full 
and  comprehensive  -without  being  loose  or  in- 
definite, that  will  be  explicit  mthout  being  re- 
strictive, that  will  strengthen  representative 
government  both  in  the  city  and  the  state,  while 
maintaining  unimpaired  the  legitimate  powers 
of  both  city  and  state  in  their  proper  bounds, 
and  that  will  leave  neither  to  the  legislature  nor 
to  the  courts  the  duty  of  determining  what  home 
rule  is  and  what  it  is  not. 

We  can  better  understand  what  must  consti- 
tute the  fundamental  requirements  of  an  ade- 
quate constitutional  home  rule  proposal  if  we 
realize  that  municipal  home  rule  involves  two 
essentials;  first,  poiver  within  the  city  to  do 
whatever  is  necessary  to  manage  and  control  its 
own  affairs,  property  and  government,  without 
outside  interference   or   assistance;   and   see- 


38    Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

ondly,  protection,  so  far  as  its  local  affairs  are 
concerned,  from  interference  on  the  part  of  the 
legislature.^  Keal  home  rnle  cannot  be  achieved 
unless  both  of  these  essentials  are  provided,  for 
the  two  although  complementary  are  by  no 
means  interdependent.  Cities  might  have  the 
power  to  frame  and  adopt  charters  and  to  enact 
local  legislation  and  yet,  unless  that  right  is 
made  both  full  and  exclusive,  they  might  still 
be  subject  to  legislative  interference.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  might  be  possible  to  prohibit  or 
limit  the  legislature  in  the  passage  of  special 
local  legislation  and  still  not  grant  requisite 
charter-making  power,  in  which  case  cities 
would  still  be  subject  to  rigidly  restrictive  gen- 
eral legislation  or  would  be  compelled  to  fit  their 
scheme  of  government  into  the  common  mould 
of  a  uniform  charter  which  would  have  to  be 
applied  indiscriminately  to  cities  of  greatly 
varying  size  and  character.  It  can  readily  be 
seen  that  under  either  one  alone  cities  could 
have  no  real  or  substantial  home  rule.* 


*A  proposal  of  Senator  Elon  R.  Brown,  the  majority 
leader,  approved  by  the  New  York  State  legislature  at  the 
session  of  1917,  attempts  to  put  a  check  on  local  legislative  in- 
terference by  granting  the  legislature  power  to  delegate  au- 
thority to  cities,  and  providing  for  a  limitation  on  local  city 
bills  in  the  legislature.  The  proposal  attempts  to  provide  pro- 
tection, but  without  granting  to  cities  themselves  any  real 
power  save  as  the  legislature  may  from  time  to  time  dele- 
gate it.  Without  such  a  grant  of  power  it  cannot  be  called 
real  constitutional  home  rule. 


The  Basis  of  Home  Rule  39 

Lack  of  these  two  essentials  is  the  source  of 
practically  all  the  evils  from  which  cities  suffer. 
It  is  equally  true  that  it  constitutes  the  most 
serious  handicap  under  which  legislatures  la- 
bor. Without  such  local  self-governing  powers 
cities  cannot  fix  the  responsibility  for  extrava- 
gance or  mal-administration  nor  can  they  prop- 
perly  coordinate  local  administrative  powers 
with  that  degree  of  responsibility  which  must 
be  the  basis  of  all  truly  representative  govern- 
ment. The  division  of  responsibility  that  comes 
when  the  authority  to  control  local  affairs  and 
government  is  divided  between  the  municipality 
and  the  state  clearly  tends  to  break  down  local 
responsibility  and  to  undermine  the  represen- 
tative character  of  the  city  government.  And 
finally,  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  city  this 
lack  of  self-governing  power  acts  as  an  invita- 
tion to  legislative  interference  for  partisan  po- 
litical ends,  thus  contributing  to  the  payment 
that  municipalities  are  compelled  to  make  for 
the  upbuilding  and  upkeeping  of  national  po- 
litical parties. 

Of  no  less  concern  is  a  consideration  of  the 
demoralizing  effect  that  this  absence  of  home 
rule  has  -on  the  state  legislature  itself.  Under 
such  conditions  the  legislature  is  compelled  to 
devote  a  very  considerable  portion  of  its  time — 


40    Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

often  more  than  half — to  local  legislation.  In 
the  nature  of  things  individual  legislators 
cannot  be  either  greatly  interested  or  particu- 
larly well  posted  as  to  the  needs  of  cities  other 
than  their  own,  or  as  to  the  conditions  in  locali- 
ties that  demand  legislative  consideration.  Leg- 
islators are  usually  compelled  to  take  the  word 
of  someone  else  as  to  the  necessity.  Often  they 
follow  the  virtual  demands  of  an  irresponsible 
or  ambitious  political  leader  whose  chief  inter- 
est is  a  partisan  one,  or  they  are  forced  in  de- 
fense of  their  own 'local  legislation  to  enter  into 
bargains  and  ^*log  rolling"  agreements  with 
legislative  leaders,  or  with  their  fellow  mem- 
bers. In  this  process  the  ends  are  often  lost 
sight  of,  frequently  to  the  detriment  of  the  cities 
whose  representatives  are  thus  misrepresenting 
them,  and  with  the  certain  result  of  an  extreme 
degree  of  demoralization  in  the  legislative  ma- 
chinery. 

To  provide  an  adequate  constitutional  grant 
based  on  a  recognition  of  these  essentials  we 
may,  by  way  of  summing  up,  reach  the  follow- 
ing tentative  conclusions.*  The  constitution 
should  contain  a  broad  grant  of  home  rule 
powers  to  cities.    The  dangers  of  any  detailed' 


*  See  Appendix  A.  The  proposal  which  was  submitted  to 
the  New  York  Constitutional  Convention  in  191 5  was  de- 
signed to  cover  tlie  points  here  outlined. 


The  Basis  of  Home  Rule  41 

enumeration  of  subjects  over  which  cities  should 
have  exclusive  control  must  be  borne  in  mind, 
for  such  an  enumeration  is  likely  to  be  con- 
strued either  as  restrictive  so  far  as  the  cities 
themselves  are  concerned  or  as  a  curtailment 
of  the  power  of  the  legislature.  The  grant 
therefore  should  be  general  enough  to  permit  of 
a  proper  degree  of  flexibility  for  the  adjust- 
ment of  the  respective  rights  of  the  city  and 
the  state.  It  has  been  found  to  be  possible  to 
adjust  satisfactorily  the  relative  powers  of  the 
federal  government  and  the  several  states  under 
the  federal  constitution,  and  it  ought  to  be  little 
more  difficult  to  adjust  the  powers  of  cities  and 
the  state.  With  the  principle  once  clearly  set 
forth  in  the  constitution,  it  must  be  left  to  the 
executive,  judicial  and  legislative  branches  of 
the  government  to  accept  and  apply  it.  As  a 
guide  to  such  an  acceptance  several  points 
should  be  clearly  defined.  ^For  one  thing,  it 
should  -be  provided  that  cities  shall  be  presumed 
to  possess  such  powers  of  self-government 
within  the  general  grant  as  are  not  specifically 
limited  or  denied  to  them  by  the  constitution. 
This  cannot  be  rightly  considered  a  presump- 
tion against  the  legislature  for  the  legislature 
will,  as  pointed  out  later,  still  retain  by  definite 
grant  the  right  to  pass  general  laws  even  if 


42    Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

they  affect  cities.  Such  a  reversal  of  the  pre- 
sumption will  in  no  wise  limit  the  extent,  but 
only  the  method  of  application,  of  the  legisla- 
tive power.  It  will,  on  the  other  hand,  definitely 
increase  the  power  of  the  cities.  It  would 
therefore  enlarge  the  zone  of  common  power, 
leaving  the  legislative  authority  always  par- 
amount so  far  as  general  legislation  in  respect 
to  cities  is  concerned,  but  tending  to  decrease 
the  opportunity  for  the  legislature  to  do  things 
which  the  city  can  more  properly  do. 

The  constitution  should  contain  an  explicit 
grant  of  power  to  cities  to  frame  and  adopt 
their  own  charters,  and  this  right  should  be 
self-executing,  and  contingent  upon  the  accept- 
ance of  a  completed  charter  by  the  city  elector- 
ate. This  does  not  of  course  imply  that  charters 
must  be  drafted  in  a  town  meeting,  but  that  ma- 
chinery shall  be  created  for  the  choice  of  a  rep- 
resentative body  to  draw  a  charter  and  submit 
it  to  the  electorate,  a  body  in  other  words  which 
may  do  for  the  city  what  a  constitutional  con- 
vention does  for  the  state.  Certainly  we  shall 
have  taken  a  long  step  toward  representative 
government  that  really  represents  when  we  have 
charters  framed  by  the  residents  of  a  city  who 
know  its  needs  and  have  an  active  interest  in  its 
welfare,  instead  of  by  a  body  of  men  from  dis- 


The  Basis  of  Home  Rule  43 

tant  urban  and  rural  communities  who  can  have 
only  a  dim  understanding  of  the  needs  of  any 
city  other  than  their  own,  and  who  feel  no  sense 
of  responsibility  whatever  to  a  distant  constit- 
uency. 

'^  Special  legislation  in  regard  to  the  affairs  of 
a  particular  city  should  be  absolutely  prohibited 
by  the  constitution.  But  the  right  of  the  legis- 
lature to  regulate  the  affairs  of  cities  by  gen- 
eral laws  applying  alike  to  all  the  cities  of  the 
^tate  should  be  just  as  clearly  declared.  Such 
a  provision  would  protect  the  state  amply 
against  any  curtailment  of  the  legislative  power. 
Under  it  the  legislature  could  act  even  in  re- 
gard to  matters  of  a  local  character  if  such 
matters  become  of  enough  concern  to  the  state 
to  be  made  the  subject  of  general  legislation. 
This  reservation  should  be  made  plain.  If  there 
is  a  shadowy  middle-ground  here,  a  region  in 
which  there  may  be  overlapping  and  perhaps 
even  conflicts,  it  must  be  remembered  that  there 
are  in  fact  such  neutral  zones  in  respect  to  fed- 
eral and  state  laws  and  to  local  ordinances  and 
state  laws  at  present.  But  the  debatable  ground 
may  be  narrowed  by  an  express  provision  re- 
serving to  the  legislature  power  to  pass  laws, 
even  though  local  in  their  application,  if  the 
legislature  determines  that  they  are,  even  tern- 


44    Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

porarily,  matters  that  concern  the  state  primar- 
ily and  the  locality  secondarily. 

Under  such  a  proposal  as  here  outlined  in  its 
essential  points  it  ought  to  be  possible  for  cities 
to  attain  a  real  degree  of  self-government  which 
they  now  lack.  Under  such  a  proposal  the  legis- 
lature would  always  be  able  to  enact  general 
laws  in  relation  to  the  public  health,  civil  ser- 
vice, police,  public  education,  factory  and  pub- 
lic service  regulation,  municipal  finances  and 
taxation,  and  so  on,  under  which  municipal  offi- 
cers might  be  called  upon  to  act  under  their^ 
oaths  of  office.  And  under  such  a  proposal 
cities,  free  from  the  demoralizing  effects  of 
legislative  interference,  able  to  frame  and  alter 
their  own  charters  of  government,  empowered 
to  make  such  provisions  as  may  appear  neces- 
sary in  regard  to  their  own  property  and  ad- 
ministration, and  endowed  with  a  responsibil- 
ity that  they  have  never  heretofore  possessed, 
will  be  able  to  achieve  in  large  degree  actual, 
practical  home  rule. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  MUNICIPAL  BOSS  AND  THE  CIVIC  SPIRIT 

The  municipal  boss  is  a  natural  product  of 
our  municipal  system.  Its  short-comings  have 
been  both  his  opportunity  and  his  reason  for 
being.  The  lack  of  uniformity  in  the  structure 
of  city  government ;  the  haphazard  character  of 
its  growth  and  development;  the  absence  of 
fixed  standards  of  administration  and  munici- 
pal service,  have  all  tended  to  the  same  end. 
But  the  most  powerful  contributing  cause  is  to 
be  found  in  the  lack  of  power  in  the  city  to  gov- 
ern itself. 

Thie  relation  between  the  city  and  the  state 
has  been  always  hazy  and  uncertain,  but,  al- 
though there  has  been  uncertainty  as  to  what 
powers  the  city  might  exercise,  it  was  quite  cer- 
tain that  a  political  boss  might  frequently  ac- 
complish through  his  partisan  affiliations,  what 
the  city  authorities  could  not  accomplish  under 
their  restricted  charter  powers.  Sometimes  the 
boss  has  exercised  his  authority  for  the  good 

45 


46    Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

of  the  city — ^if  the  good  of  his  party  machine 
seemed  to  demand  it — more  often  to  the  clear 
detriment  of  the  city.  If  his  efforts  at  acceler- 
ating legislation  benefited  the  city  he  reaped  the 
benefit  for  himself  or  his  party  machine  and  at 
the  -same  time  placed  city  officers  under  distinct 
obligation  to  him  by  making  possible  of  accom- 
plishment what  they  themselves  could  not  do. 
He  never  neglected,  in  such  cases,  to  let  it  be 
known  that  the  city  had  him  to  thank  for  what 
it  had  received.  On  the  other  hand,  if  he  or 
his  party  failed  to  obtain  some  much-needed  leg- 
islation for  the  city  it  was  always  possible  to 
explain  to  the  public  that  the  failure  lay  in  no 
dereliction  on  his  part,  or  on  that  of  the  admin- 
istration he  controlled,  but  in  the  powerlessness 
of  the  city  under  existing  statutory  or  consti- 
tutional restrictions  that  deprived  a  city  of  the 
power  to  control  its  own  affairs.  If  through  his 
effort  or  acquiescence  some  legislation  were  en- 
acted which  proved  to  be  detrimental  to  the 
best  interests  of  the  city,  the  system  made  it 
possible  for  him  to  shift  the  responsibility.  It 
was  easy  to  explain  that  the  legislature  of  the 
state  had  simply  exercised  its  constitutional  au- 
thority. It  was  not  his  fault  that  cities  were 
subject  to  the  whim  or  caprice  of  such  an  au- 
thority.    He  was  sorry,  of  course,  but  what 


The  Municipal  Boss  47 

could  lie  do  ?  If  this  explanation  were  not  suf- 
ficient there  was  always  his  party  to  fall  back 
on.  He  could  appeal  to  all  the  voters  of  his 
party — ^nationally  speaking — ^to  stand  by  him. 
They,  being  obsessed  with  the  notion  acquired 
through  long  -acceptance  -that  there  was  some 
close  and  natural  relation  between  local  and  na- 
tional politics,  were  apt  to  respond.  In  either 
case,  his  personal  responsibility  was  small. 
These  are  the  sort  of  factors  that  have  con- 
tributed to  the  glory  :and  power  of  the  political 
boss  of  the  past. 

Thus  it  is  easy  to  see  how  clearly  the  lack  of 
fxdequate  home  rule  powers  in  the  city,  and  the 
injection  of  national  party  politics  into  munici- 
palities, have  played  into  the  hands  of  the  po- 
litical boss.  He  has  been  always  ready  to  take 
advantage  of  this  situation,  capitalizing  his 
connection  with  one  or  the  other  of  the  great 
national  parties,  to  bring  about  desired  results. 
In  political  campaigns  he  and  his  sub-bosses 
have  been  loudest  in  demanding  that  the  voters 
** stand  by  the  party,''  but  the  whole  history  of 
political  rings  and  party  machines  in  the  munic- 
ipalities of  the  country,  large  and  small,  gives 
emphasis  to  the  fact  that  party  fealty  really 
weighs  very  little  with  the  local  political  ma- 
chine, if  its  interests  can  be  better  served  by  a 


48    Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

bi-partisan  deal.  Again  and  again  the  history 
of  our  cities  discloses  the  story  of  the  close  co- 
partnership of  political  bosses  of  opposing  po- 
litical parties  who  make  their  appeal  through 
their  candidates  to  the  electorate  on  the  basis 
of  a  party  loyalty,  which  they  themselves,  when 
their  selfish  interests  are  concerned,  are  the  first 
to  betray. 

The  municipal  awakening  of  the  past  decade 
has  brought  about  many  changes,  however,  in 
partisan  municipal  machines.  The  extension  of 
municipal  civil  service  laws  has  struck  at  the 
root  of  municipal  patronage,  which  is  the  very 
life  of  the  political  machine.  The  disclosure 
of  the  close  affiliation  between  corrupt  corpora- 
tions and  corrupt  political  machines,  has  been 
followed  by  restrictive  legislation  prohibiting 
campaign  contributions  from  corporations  and 
requiring  publicity  of  campaign  expenditures. 
The  checks  and  balances  of  an  earlier  day,  have 
given  way  to  checks  and  balances  that  concern 
themselves  not  ^Yit\l  theoretical  political  prin- 
ciples, but  with  city  budgets,  municipal  account- 
ing -and  auditing,  -and  the  safeguarding  of  fran- 
chise granting  powers.  \  The  boss  of  today  is 
seldom  in  a  position  to  give  away  franchises 
through  his  control  of  the  municipal  legislature. 
Even  where  there  is  no  statutory  safeguard,  the 


The  Municipal  Boss  49 

new  civic  spirit  vitalized  by  publicity  will  not 
let  liim.  His  political  hangers-on  and  ward- 
workers  do  not  so  frequently  get  rich  through 
various  methods  of  graft,  ** honest"  or  dishon- 
est. Purchases  of  city  supplies  are  more  care- 
fully scrutinized.  In  every  way  the  power  of 
the  political  boss  in  on  the  wane.  Tammany 
Hall  will  never  again  be  the  over-fattened  po- 
litical monster  that  it  was  in  the  eighties  and 
early  nineties.  The  Kepublican  machine  of 
Philadelphia,  with  its  frank  ownership  and  con- 
trol of  the  Democratic  machine,  will  never  gorge 
itself  at  public  expense  as  it  once  did.  The 
same  thing  is  true  of  lesser  municipal  rings 
throughout  the  country. 

How  does  the  boss  respond  to  this  new  situ- 
ation? Well,  to  a  certain  extent  he  responds  by 
accepting  it  and  adjusting  himself  to  it  as  best 
he  may.  In  most  cases  the  present-day  boss  has 
grown  up  and  come  into  his  political  power  dur- 
ing the  days  when  this  new  civic  spirit  was  be- 
ginning to  make  itself  felt  and  he  has,  there- 
fore, never  tasted  the  full  powers  of  the  boss 
of  older  days.  In  adjusting  himself  to  this  new 
situation  he  is  giving  pretty  careful  consider- 
ation to  the  problem  of  how  to  keep  his  machine 
going. 

He  has  always  been  the  great  champion  of 


50    Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

laissez  faire.  He  was  satisfied  with  conditions. 
He  didn't  want  them  disturbed.  So  usually, 
when  there  has  been  agitation  for  a  change  he 
has  fallen  back  on  the  '*  principles  of  our  fore- 
fathers/' and  battled  with  all  his  power  for  the 
retention  of  all  the  old  machinery  of  govern- 
ment that  we  have  inherited  from  an  impracti- 
cal and  careless  past.  Thus  he  has  stood  forth 
as  a  defender  of  the  representative  system  of 
government,  which  to  him  has  meant  not  only 
opposition  to  all  steps  toward  direct  legislation, 
but  also  the  retention  of  a  city  legislature 
chosen  from  wards  or  districts,  and  in  the  choice 
by  the  electors  of  as  many  city  officials  as  pos- 
sible including  purely  administrative  officers. 
He  has  opposed  the  introduction  of  the  merit 
system  on  the  ground  that  it  was  a  tendency  to- 
ward the  creation  of  a  bureaucracy.  He  has 
loudly  bewailed  the  increasing  tendency  toward 
centralization,  and  the  fixing  of  responsibility 
for  appointments,  declaring  that  such  a  step 
undermined  the  sacred  doctrine  of  checks  and 
balances,  and  was  a  move  in  the  direction  of 
autocracy.  In  fact,  he  has  never  failed  to  find 
in  every  reform  that  disturbed  his  control  some- 
thing that  indicated  the  destruction  of  our  lib- 
erties. 
He  is  apt  to  fight  political  innovations  to  the 


The  Municipal  Boss  51 

last  ditch  but  his  keen  eyes  have  become  accus- 
tomed to  reading  the  handwriting  on  the  wall, 
and  he  frequently  profits  by  the  experience  of 
his  predecessors,  or  his  fellow  bosses  in  other 
cities.  Thus  he  has  come  to  accept,  although 
reluctantly,  the  direct  primary.  He  meets  the 
situation  by  unofficial  conventions  or  party 
designations  and  by  the  enforcement  of  the 
strictest  discipline  among  his  ward  and  dis- 
trict workers.  He  finds  that  through  his  ma- 
chine he  can  manipulate  and  circulate  nominat- 
ing petitions  more  easily  than  unorganized  or 
independent  groups  of  citizens  can,  so  he  ac- 
cepts the  direct  primary.  He  views  the  short- 
ballot  with  supreme  distrust,  but  hopes  that 
somehow  or  other  one  of  his  *'own"  men  will 
sooner  or  later  be  placed  in  a  position  where  he 
can  exercise  the  extensive  authority  that  a 
short-ballot  frequently  places  in  the  hands  of  a 
single  man.  He  does  not  like  the  fixing  of 
responsibility  that  goes  with  it,  but  he  sees  pos- 
sibilities of  beclouding  the  issue  or  raising  the 
party  standard  to  help  him  out.  He  fights  the 
recall  but  thinks  that  possibly,  should  the  recall 
be  adopted,  it  *^ might  come  in  handy"  for  his 
purposes  some  day.  He  swallows  ballot  re- 
form and  keeps  a  corps  of  *' experts''  at  work 
devising  means  whereby  its  advantages  to  in- 


52    Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

dependent  voting  may  so  far  as  possible  be 
nullified.  He  struggles  hard — hardest  of  all, 
perhaps — against  non-partisan  municipal  elec- 
tions, for  here  he  sees  one  of  the  gravest  dan- 
gers to  the  continued  existence  of  his  political 
machine.  Yet,  if  the  law  requires  it,  he  will  set 
himself  to  work  devising  means  whereby  official 
non-partisanship  may  to  some  extent  be  over- 
come by  political  partisanship.  In  the  end  he 
will  lose,  but  to  the  very  end  he  will  struggle. 

Finally,  there  is  the  question  of  municipal 
home  rule.  Oddly  enough,  the  political  boss 
has  convinced  himself  that  he  has  discovered 
some  good  reasons  for  being  a  home  ruler.  He 
is  very  apt,  indeed,  to  raise  the  home  rule  cry 
himself.  It  is  a  mighty  good  slogan  for  a  mu- 
nicipal boss,  but  as  he  looks  at  it  there  are  more 
potent  reasons  why  he  should  and  frequently 
does  advocate  it.  He  has  usually  had  a  great 
deal  of  experience  in  dealing  with  legislatures 
and  that  experience  has  not  always  been  satis- 
factory. If  his  influence  in  his  party  is  wide  he 
can  come  pretty  near  to  getting  what  he  wants 
under  favorable  conditions.  But  there  are  so 
many  **ifs"  in  the  situation  that  he  is  usually 
kept  in  a  constant  state  of  worry. 

It  is  only  the  bosses  of  a  few  of  the  very  larg- 
est cities  who  have  ever  been  powerful  enough 


The  Municipal  Boss  53 

to  exercise  a  really  important  influence  in  the 
state  legislature.  As  a  rule,  a  city  boss  is  still 
concerned  primarily,  to  speak  constitutionally, 
in  **the  property,  affairs  and  government''  of 
his  own  city.  In  these  latter  days  he  usually 
has  all  he  can  do  to  maintain  himself  in  his  oivn 
bailiwick,  and  he  finds  the  necessity  of  dealing 
with  the  state  legislature  decidedly  bothersome, 
even  when  it  is  not  barren  of  results.  There 
was  a  time,  not  so  very  far  back  in  the  last  cen- 
tury, when  such  an  undertaking  frequently  held 
rewards  that  were  worth  all  the  trouble.  But 
now^adays  he  would  rather  be  rid  of  it.  So  it 
happens  that  municipal  home  rule  is  one  change 
that  the  municipal  boss  has  come  to  look  upon, 
if  not  with  actual  favor,  at  least  with  a  con- 
siderable degree  of  complacency. 

Consider  for  a  moment  the  practical  difficul- 
ties a  municipal  boss  must  face  in  dealing  with 
a  legislature  and  you  have  at  least  a  partial  ex- 
planation of  his  changed  attitude.  If  his  o^\ti 
party  happens  to  control  the  legislature  and  if 
he  is  a  recognized  power  in  the  party,  the  sit- 
uation presents  the  simplest  and  most  favorable 
aspects  for  him.  Through  his  influence  in  the 
party  and  through  his  own  representatives  in 
the  legislature,  he  can  deal  directly  with  the 
members  from  the  country  districts  or  with 


54    Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

those  from  other  cities.  If  he  is  only  a  *  kittle 
boss''  whose  influence  is  confined  to  his  own  city, 
he  is  likely,  even  when  his  own  party  controls 
the  legislature,  to  be  compelled  to  defer  to  the 
wishes  of  some  more  powerful  boss  or  bosses. 
Usually,  under  such  circumstances,  he  takes 
what  favors  he  can  get  as  a  result  of  bargaining 
and  trading.  Frequently  he  is  compelled  to 
deal  on  a  basis  that  compromises  his  own  leg- 
islators on  matters  of  state-wide  importance. 
If  the  legislature  is  controlled  by  the  opposite 
political  party,  the  situation  is  still  more  diffi- 
cult. The  basis  of  any  trade  he  makes  must  be 
on  the  dangerous  ground  of  bi-partisanship, 
where  the  only  bonds  are  those  of  self-defense 
and  self-interest  and  where  any  compact  is 
likely  to  be  abrogated  when  partisan  necessity 
is  removed.  These  are  but  a  few  of  the  many 
**ifs"  that  explain  why  the  municipal  boss  does 
not  feel  a  strong  inclination  to  exert  himself 
to  retain  legislative  control  of  local  affairs,  and 
why  in  many  instances  he  is  inclined  rather  to 
look  with  favor  on  anything  that  will  take  the 
place  of  such  an  unsatisfactory  method. 

It  is  by  no  means,  therefore,  an  easy  position 
in  which  the  modern  municipal  boss  finds  him- 
self. Even  though  he  may  consider  them  ex- 
ceptions to  the  rule  the  fates  of  Tweed  and 


The  Municipal  Boss  55 

Eeuf  are  not  pleasant  things  to  think  upon,  and 
their  example  acts  as  a  strong  deterrent  for  any 
boss  who  may  contemplate  personally  dishonest 
practices.  You  seldom  find  him  in  these  days 
so  arrogant  that  he  will  sit  back  and  ask,  **  What 
are  you  going  to  do  about  it  T '  and  he  shudders 
at  having  put  to  him  that  significant  question, 
*^  Where  did  you  get  itT'  The  simple  explana- 
tion is  that  the  latent  civic  spirit  that  has  made 
itself  felt  in  the  past  only  in  occasional  and  ex- 
traordinary emergencies,  is  now  abroad  twenty- 
four  hours  a  day  in  every  city  in  the  land.  It 
constitutes  a  powerful  and  fully  armed  vigi- 
lance committee  that  he  must  always  reckon 
with. 

It  is  largely  because  of  the  existence  of  this 
new  spirit  that  present-day  municipal  bosses 
have  to  take  many  things  into  account  that  the 
boss  of  a  generation  ago  never  even  thought  of. 
He  has  learned,  for  one  thing,  how  all  important 
it  is  to  the  continued  prosperity  and  life  of  his 
machine  to  have  the  most  important  municipal 
officers,  who,  in  the  public  view,  owe  their  posi- 
tion to  him,  **make  good''  in  office.  He  realizes 
that  when  these  men  come  up  for  reelection,  it 
is  important  for  him  and  for  them  to  have  a  rec- 
ord of  accomplishment  to  their  credit.  There 
must  be  some  basis  for  an  appeal  to  the  voter. 


56    Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

Time  was  when  he  didn't  pay  much  attention 
to  what  the  voters  thought  and  when  **  orders 
from  the  boss"  were  the  nearest  approach  to 
an  appeal  ever  issued.  But  stricter  primary 
and  election  laws,  actually  enforced,  and  a  keen 
scrutiny  and  fearless  criticism  on  the  part  of 
civic  bodies  which  can  no  longer  be  safely 
ignored,  have  constrained  him  to  give  rather 
serious  attention  to  matters  that  constitute 
something  more  than  purely  partisan  reasons 
for  retaining  a  man  in  public  office. 

He  has  come  to  realize  from  severe  expe- 
rience that  any  administration  which  his  party 
machine  puts  into  office  must  stand  or  fall  on 
its  record  *of  the  things  it  has  done  for  the  city. 
He  is  more  than  ready  to  **  pander  to  the  bet- 
ter element."  He  has  come  to  demand,  so  far 
as  the  conspicuous  city  officers  are  concerned,  a 
certain  standard  of  service  where  standards 
have,  heretofore,  'seldom  amounted  to  anything. 
There  was  a  time  when  all  that  any  boss  re- 
quired— and  sometimes  he  did  not  require  even 
that — was  that  his  followers  in  office  should  not 
be  ** caught  with  the  goods  on  them."  Now  he 
insists  that  these  same  followers  shall  **  pro- 
duce the  goods."  There  is  a  vast  difference. 
There  is  still  in  every  city  a  class  of  underlings 
in  the  municipal  offices,  the  size  depending  on 


The  Municipal  Boss  57 

the  scope  of  the  civil  service  laws,  who  are 
merely  place-holders,  put  where  they  are  as  a 
reward  for  service  to  the  machine.  The  time 
has  not  yet  come  when  these  men  are  required  to 
make  good,  but  they  are  usually  required  at 
least  to  be  good.  But  the  conspicuous  city  of- 
ficers, especially  the  elective  officers  and  de- 
partment heads,  are  now  pretty  generally  re- 
quired by  the  boss  to  make  good,  not  only  as 
partisans,  but  as  public  officials.  The  boss  does 
not,  it  is  true,  require  this  standard  for  the  sake 
of  the  public  service  so  much  as  for  the  sake  of 
the  party  machine.  But  the  requirement  ex- 
ists, and  that  is  the  important  point.  This  is 
his  concession  to  the  new  civic  spirit. 

**What  are  you  doing  here?"  demanded  a 
well-knoA\Ti  -boss  recently  when  he  discovered 
the  assemblyman  representing  his  district  play- 
ing billiards  in  his  district  political  club.  *  *  Isn  't 
the  legislature  in  session  T' 

"Yes,  but  it  ain't  doing  anything,''  was  the 
reply. 

**  Well,  I  didn't  choose  you  to  hang  out  around 
here,"  returned  the  boss.  *'You  chase  right 
back  up  the  river  and  you  stay  there  after  this 
as  long  as  the  legislature  is  in  session  or  I'll 
send  someone  up  that  will.  I  can't  afford  to 
have  you  seen  loafing  around  down  here." 


58    Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

This  was  a  demonstration  of  self-interest  on 
the  part  of  the  boss.  The  assemblyman  was  of 
no  real  value  in  the  legislature.  Neither  state 
nor  city  was  actually  losing  anything  by  his 
absence.  It  was  merely  the  looks  of  the  thing. 
An  old  time  boss  would  never  have  cared  how 
it  looked.  But  this  particular  boss  did  care. 
Things  have  changed. 

A  chapter  from  recent  New  York  history  in- 
dicates how  this  change  is  working  with  good 
results.  Between  1911  and  1914  the  Democratic 
party  was  in  control  almost  continuously  in 
both  the  state  government  and  the  legislature. 
Tammany  Hall  dominated  the  Democratic 
party.  Tammany  had  been  waiting  years  for 
the  opportunity  to  provide  a  new  city  charter 
for  New  York  City.  Here  was  the  opportunity. 
With  a  complacent  governor  in  office  and  the 
whip  hand  in  both  houses  of  the  legislature,  it 
looked  simple.  The  charter  was  framed.  It 
had  some  good  things  in  it,  but  the  bad  far  out- 
weighed the  good,  and  it  was  clearly  constructed 
for  partisan  advantage.  The  charter  was  op- 
posed by  numerous  organizations  of  a  non- 
partisan character  which  Tammany  has  usually 
ignored.  It  passed  the  Assembly  by  a  single 
vote  after  a  bitter  fight.  The  fight  was  renewed 
in  the  Senate  with  such  effect,  that  with  all  the 


The  Municipal  Boss  59 

power  apparently  in  their  hands,  the  Tammany 
leaders  did  not  dare  to  force  the  charter  to  a 
vote.  It  was  allowed  to  die  in  committee.  The 
civic  spirit  of  New  York  was  too  much  for  Tam- 
many Hall.  It  had  not  been  so  in  the  days  of 
Tweed  or  Kelly  or  even  Croker.  But  Murphy 
has  learned  to  take  into  account  forces  which 
they  found  it  safe  to  ignore. 

As  it  turned  out,  the  abandonment  of  the  char- 
ter was  too  late  to  save  Tammany  which  was 
overwhelmingly  defeated  in  the  November  elec- 
tion. But  there  has  been  no  recurrence  of  the 
arrogant  spirit  that  controlled  the  organization 
in  1911.  Within  the  next  two  years  it  had  put 
its  approval  on  a  Workmen's  Compensation 
Act,  a  real  direct  primary  law,  an  office-group 
ballot  law,  and  two  of  the  most  enlightened 
pieces  of  home  rule  legislation  ever  enacted  by 
an  American  legislature.  Their  enactment 
would  not  have  been  possible  without  the  sup- 
port of  Tammany  legislators  carrying  out  the 
directions  of  the  Tammany  boss.  Whatever  the 
impelling  motive,  Tammany  was  really  trying 
to  make  a  record  which  other  than  machine  vot- 
ers would  approve. 

But  it  is  not  every  municipal  boss  that  can, 
even  if  he  would,  manufacture  a  **good''  record 
so  easily  as  the  powerful  boss  of  Tammany 


60    Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

Hall.  As  we  have  seen  the  inflnence  of  a  local 
boss  in  a  state  legislature  is  at  best  restricted 
and  uncertain,  and  usually  the  rewards  are  not 
at  all  commensurate  with  the  price  he  is  com- 
pelled to  pay.  If  he  is  anxious  to  **do  some- 
thing" he  must  depend  in  the  long  run  on  such 
results  as  the  men  he  puts  into  office  at  home  are 
able  to  achieve  in  administering  the  affairs  of 
the  city.  Incapable  office  holders,  he  has 
learned,  cannot  be  counted  on  to  provide  a  rec- 
ord of  accomplishment  that  will  appeal  to  the 
people  even  under  the  most  favorable  condi- 
tions. The  demonstration  of  that  fact  has 
tended  to  improve  the  public  service  so  far  as 
the  character  of  municipal  officers  is  concerned. 
It  has  forced  the  most  partisan  of  bosses  to 
put  capable  men  of  standing  on  his  municipal 
tickets,  and  into  important  appointive  offices. 
But  even  with  the  best  men  he  can  persuade  to 
take  office,  in  control  of  the  local  administration, 
the  possible  results  are  apt  to  be  small  in  a  city 
that  does  not  possess,  under  the  laws  and  the 
constitution,  the  requisite  powers  to  supply  its 
own  municipal  needs,  and  which  must  be  largely 
at  the  mercy  of  an  uninformed,  uninterested 
and  capricious  partisan  legislature. 

Opponents  of  home  rule  are  sure  to  point  out 
that  the  greatest  danger  in  municipal  home  rule 


The  Municipal  Boss  61 

lies  in  the  likelihood  that  some  local  political 
boss  or  machine  will  abuse  the  enlarged  power 
given  to  city  authorities.  Twenty-five  years 
ago,  with  an  unawakened  electorate,  that  dan- 
ger would  have  been  a  real  one.  Today,  with  a 
vigilant  civic  spirit  on  guard  and  a  generation 
of  municipal  bosses  who  recognize  and  fear  it, 
the  danger  is  much  less.  With  the  adequate 
safeguards  that  any  proper  system  of  municipal 
home  rule  must  maintain  to  preserve  a  city,  for 
the  general  good,  from  its  own  follies,  to  force 
a  strict  accountability  for  their  acts  upon  city 
officers,  and  to  prevent  the  city  from  infringing 
on  the  authority  of  the  state,  the  danger  need 
scarcely  be  considered.  As  for  the  boss,  his 
problem  from  the  machine  point  of  view,  is 
whether  he  would  rather  continue  under  the  un- 
satisfactory existing  conditions  of  helplessness 
and  uncertainty  or  whether  he  would  prefer  to 
have  the  municipal  administrations  empowered 
to  do  things  and  held  responsible  for  what  they 
do.  He  is  rapidly  coming  to  the  point  where 
he  would  rather  have  the  power  even  if  he  must 
also  take  the  responsibility. 

The  awakened  civic  spirit  that  is  working  a 
revolution  in  the  character  of  our  municipal 
institutions,  and  is  changing  the  whole  trend 
and  tenor  of  local  politics  and  political  meth- 


62    Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

ods  the  country  over,  has  armed  itself.  And  the 
weapon  it  has  chosen  both  for  offence  and  de- 
fense, the  weapon  it  most  frequently  uses  to 
force  a  consideration  of  its  demands,  and  to 
defend  the  ground  it  has  gained,  is  municipal 
home  rule.  That  is  why  the  strange  picture 
is  presented  of  the  municipal  boss,  driven  into 
a  corner  with  his  back  to  the  wall,  grasping 
in  his  own  defense  the  very  weapon  which  will 
sooner  or  later  be  used  to  accomplish  his  own 
overthrow. 


CHAPTER  IV 

SHORT  BALLOT  CHARTERS 

For  the  past  fifteen  years  there  has  been  an 
extraordinary  influence  at  work  in  American 
cities.  That  influence  has  ruthlessly  attacked 
established  traditions,  toppled  over  historical 
conceptions  as  to  what  local  government  in 
this  country  means  and  shaken  the  very  foun- 
dations of  our  self-satisfied  and  complacent  re- 
gard for  what  has  long  been  considered  a  funda- 
mental of  -all  our  forms  of  city  government. 
And  in  so  doing  it  has  apparently  accomplished 
in  a  short  decade  and  a  half  what  numerous 
well  intentioned  but  sporadic  ^*  good-govern- 
ment'' and  ** reform"  movements  had  failed  to 
do,  namely,  dealt  a  body  blow  to  the  continued 
dominance  of  national  political  parties  in  our 
municipalities,  and  begun  the  great  work  of 
destroying  completely  the  rule  of  that  invisible 
government  by  local  political  machines  which, 
under  the  colors  of  a  national  political  party, 
have  sucked  the  very  life  blood  of  our  cities. 

63 


64    Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

This  municipal  revolution — ^it  has  been  noth- 
ing less  than  that — can  have  but  one  adequate 
explanation.  During  the  last  quarter  of  the 
Nineteenth  Century  the  condition  of  our  city 
governments,  hampered  by  forms  of  govern- 
ment that  were  both  inadequate  and  unrepre- 
sentative, exploited  for  the  benefit  of  political 
parties,  misgoverned  by  untrained  and  unprin- 
cipled officials,  treated  by  state  legislatures  as 
captured  provinces  and  almost  wholly  lacking 
any  real  power  to  control  their  own  affairs,  had 
reached  the  lowest  possible  level.  Save  in  a 
few  scattered  instances  the  very  idea  of  a  city 
government  as  an  instrument  of  service  to  the 
community  was  scarcely  conceived  of.  In  them 
local  self-government  was  a  misnomer ;  they  had 
become  primarily  the  tributary  supports  of 
great  political  machines. 

Under  these  circumstances,  it  was  natural 
that  the  cities  once  really  aroused  to  the  true 
gravity  of  their  situation,  would  be  ready  to 
grasp  at  any  plan  or  instrument  that  seemed 
to  promise  relief  from  such  intolerable  condi- 
tions, no  matter  how  radical  in  form  or  how 
revolutionary  in  principle.  The  field  was  a  fer- 
tile one ;  the  spirit  was  no-t  dead ;  it  was  merely 
dormant.  Already  there  had  been  many  indi- 
cations of  the  direction  in  which  the  only  hope 


Short  Ballot  Charters  65 

of  reform  lay.  Many  men  in  many  parts  of  the 
country  had  seen  the  difficulty  clearly  and  were 
working  to  eliminate  it.  The  only  trouble  was 
that  they  were  for  the  most  part  struggling  in 
the  dark  or  were  working  ineffectually  because 
they  were  not  working  together. 

But  the  trend  of  thought  was  all  in  the  same 
direction  and  in  that  \lirection  lay  success  and 
freedom.  Gradually,  men  who  gave  their  at- 
tention to  the  matter  came  to  arrive  at  certain 
conclusions,  and  on  the  basis  of  their  conclu- 
sions, to  formulate  a  set  of  municipal  principles 
and  policies  which  had  hitherto  been  sadly  lack- 
ing. Thus  at  the  beginning  'of  the  century  we 
had  already  seen  some  distinct  advance  in  the 
right  direction.  A  considerable  degree  of  suc- 
cess followed  the  efforts  to  separate  municipal 
from  state  and  national  elections;  the  cumber- 
some -old  bi-cameral  city  legislatures  were  grad- 
ually disappearing ;  separate  elective  boards  of 
health,  police,  education  and  assessment  were 
giving  way,  first  to  appointive  boards,  and  then 
to  single  administrative  heads.  The  power  and 
responsibility  of  the  mayor  were  increased  by 
giving  him  often  the  absolute  power  of  appoint- 
ment of  these  department  chiefs.  Bi-partisan 
boards  of  all  sorts — ^never  effective  or  respon- 
sible— ^were  largely  discarded  in  favor  of  boards 


66    Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

appointed  without  a  statutory  restriction  as  to 
national  political  affiliations. 

Everywhere  the  trend  was  in  the  direction  of 
a  fixed  responsibility  and  a  centralization  of 
authority.  People  were  coming  to  see  that  the 
oft-expressed  fear  that  such  a  movement  would 
culminate  in  autocracy — a  fear  that  had  served 
to  check  it  at  times — was  really  groundless  and 
that  the  result  would  mean  rather  a  grea*ter  re- 
sponsiveness on  the  part  of  the  government  and 
a  fuller  opportunity  for  the  electorate  to  hold 
its  elected  officers  responsible  for  their  acts. 
This  trend  was  recognized  in  many  new  city 
charters  and  usually  resulted  in  improvement 
just  to  the  extent  that  these  new  principles  were 
given  effect.  But  in  no  instance  did  the  reform 
go  deep  enough  to  get  at  the  real  root  of  the 
difficulty.  Such  were  the  conditions  and  such 
the  trend  of  thought  on  municipal  matters  that 
made  the  cities  ready  and  eager  to  adopt  the 
commission  plan  of  city  government  with  its 
franl^  concentration  of  authority  and  responsi- 
bility in  a  small  board  of  elected  officers  and 
their  choice  on  the  short  ballot  principle. 

No  political  movement  within  recent  years 
in  the  United  States  has  met  with  more  mde- 
spread  acceptance  and  support  than  that  com- 
'  prehended  in  the  term  **the  short  ballot.'' 


Short  Ballot  Charters  67 

It  would  seem  almost  superfluous  to  have  to 
explain  at  this  day  what  the  short  ballot  is.  Yet 
every  now  and  then  it  appears  that  some  people 
really  do  not  know.  That  fact  was  demon- 
strated in  the  campaign  in  New  York  State  in 
1915  for  the  adoption  of  a  new  state  constitu- 
tion, which  contained  provisions  for  a  very 
considerable  shortening  of  the  ballot  so  far  as 
state  officers  were  concerned.  There  are  actu- 
ally some  men  who  think  of  *'the  ballot"  in  its 
narrow  'sense  of  a  piece  of  paper  on  which  the 
names  of  candidates  appear,  and  who  look  upon 
the  ** short  ballot''  with  favor  because  they 
think  it  will  be  easier  to  handle.  In  its  political 
sense  the  short  ballot  means  that  only  those 
public  offices  ought  to  be  elective  which  are  im- 
portant enough  to  attract  and  to  deserve 
attention,  and  that  the  plan  of  election  should 
be  adjusted  in  such  a  manner  that  so  few  of 
them  will  be  filled  at  one  time  as  to  permit  the 
most  thorough  examination  of  the  fitness  and 
qualifications  of  the  candidates.  It  seeks  to 
eliminate  the  necessity  of  a  voter 's  either  mak- 
ing a  vain  attempt  to  pass  on  the  relative  quali- 
fications of  purely  administrative  officers,  and 
those  requiring  expert  or  professional  training, 
or  to  fall  back  on  the  alternative  of  looking  to 
a  party  emblem  for  guidance.    The  principle  of 


68    Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

the  short  ballot  has,  unlike  most  political 
changes,  been  accepted  on  the  one  hand  by  the 
most  radical  reformers  and  on  the  other  hand 
by  the  most  conservative  statesmen  and  legis- 
lators. It  has  had  in  it  an  appeal  not  only  to 
the  man  who  is  politically  an  independent  and 
who  believes  that  partisan  government  is  the 
source  of  the  greatest  evil  in  our  political  sys- 
tem, but  oddly  enough  it  has  appealed  even  to 
the  party  boss  and  party  machine  leader,  who 
look  upon,  or  pretend  to  look  upon,  a  complete 
system  of  party  government  as  an  absolute  sine 
qua  non  to  the  continuance  of  democratic  insti- 
tutions in  city  and  town  as  well  as  in  state  and 
nation. 

The  short  ballot  has  naturally  had  a  particu- 
larly strong  appeal  to  those  who  are  striving  to 
bring  about  improvement  in  the  character  of 
our  municipal  governments,  and  it  is  in  the  field 
of  municipal  government  that  the  short  ballot 
has  found  the  readiest  acceptance  -and  has  most 
frequently  been  put  into  practice.  The  reason 
for  this  latter  phenomena  is  clear;  from  the 
very  beginning  the  short  ballot  has  been  a  dis- 
tinctive attribute  of  the  commission  form  of 
government.  The  establishment  of  a  commis- 
sion form  of  government,  entailing  as  it  does 
the  abolition  of  the  old  aldermanic  and  council- 


Short  Ballot  Charters  69 

manic  system,  and  usually  carrying  with  it  a 
considerable  reduction  in  the  number  of  other 
elective  officers,  is  in  itself  an  expression  of  the 
demand  for  a  short  ballot  and  a  recognition  of 
the  short  ballot  principle  as  the  proper  under- 
lying idea  for  a  municipal  form  of  government. 
The  failure  of  municipal  government  in  the 
United  States  is  readily  traceable,  as  has  been 
already  pointed  out,  to  a  form  of  municipal 
organization  which  was  inelastic,  inarticulate 
and  incompetent  and,  therefore,  unresponsive 
and  irresponsible.  There  could  be  no  proper 
uniformity  or  co-ordination  in  the  city  admin- 
istration where  the  relationship  between  the 
heads  of  the  several  city  departments  was  loose 
and  incapable  of  adjustment.  Diffusion  of  ad- 
.  ministrative  functions  led  to  confusion.  There 
■  could  be  no  such  thing  as  efficiency  where  there 
was  no  concentration  or  centralization  of  au- 
thority and  where,  consequently,  instead  of 
working  together,  the  elected  city  heads  were 
:  frequently,  indeed  usually,  w^orking  at  cross 
'  purposes.  In  such  a  system  it  was  impossible 
to  fix  the  responsibility  properly  for  mal- 
administration or  even  corruption.  The  impos- 
sibility of  fixing  responsibility  rendered  it 
difficult  to  call  any  one  official  to  account.  The 
result  has  been  that  we  have  had  in  our  cities 


70    Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

a  so-called  representative  system  of  govern- 
ment that  was  at  its  very  foundations  unrepre- 
sentative. A  city  ruled  by  a  mayor  with 
comparatively  insignificant  powers,  and  a  dozen 
other  elective  officials,  some  of  them  executive 
but  most  of  them  primarily  administrative,  with 
their  power  in  turn  curtailed  and  limited  by  the 
whim  or  caprice  of  a  board  of  aldermen  elected 
by  wards  or  districts,  could  not,  in  its  very 
essence,  be  representative  to  any  degree  of  the 
wishes  or  desires  of  the  city's  population. 

One  fundamental  trouble  with  the  govern- 
ment of  our  cities  and  one  reason  why  the 
revolution  did  not  come  sooner  lay  in  the 
erroneous  belief  that  the  more  city  officials 
elected  by  the  people  and,  therefore,  theoretic- 
ally holding  their  mandate  directly  from  the 
people,  the  greater  was  the  representative 
character  of  that  government  and  the  more 
closely  did  it  approximate  the  traditional  ideal 
of  local  self-government.  Gradually  we  have 
been  coming  to  see  that  the  representative  char- 
acter of  government  does  not  depend  on  the 
number  of  officials  elected  but  rather  on  whether 
those  officials,  however  few  in  number,  are 
chos6n  as  a  result  of  the  fullest  and  most  direct 
expression  of  opinion  on  the  part  of  the  elec- 
tors as  to  those  best  qualified  to  represent  them. 


Short  Ballot  Charters  71 

It  does  not  make  so  much  difference  nor  is  it  a 
matter  of  really  great  importance  that  a  partic- 
ular ward  should  have  a  representative  in  the 
city's  governing  body;  but  it  is  a  matter  of 
great  importance  that  a  representative  should 
be,  not  an  accident  of  politics  or  the  creature  of 
a  political  machine,  but  the  man  best  qualified 
to  voicfe  the  needs  and  requirements  not  only  of 
his  own  Avard  but  of  the  whole  city.  And  finally, 
no  city  official  can  justly  lay  claim  to  being  truly 
representative,  no  matter  how  chosen,  unless  he 
has  in  the  first  place  authority  to  represent 
something  or  somebody,  and  in  the  second  place 
can  be  held  responsible  for  his  acts  and  called 
to  account  for  them  if  he  fails. 

There  is  no  logical  reason,  however,  why  a 
city  should  not  have  a  fairly  short  ballot  for 
municipal  officers,  without  adopting  a  commis- 
sion or  city  manager  form  of  government. 
There  is  nothing  inherently  sacred  in  ward 
lines.  There  are  few  cities  in  which  these  lines 
have  not  been  frequently  changed  within  the 
last  quarter  of  the  century.  Yet  it  is  perfectly 
feasible,  if  a  city  is  not  ready  to  accept  a  form 
of  government  which  provides  for  election  of 
the  commission  at  large,  to  divide  the  city  into 
five  large  districts  or  wards,  and  provide  for 
the  election  of  an  alderman  or  councilman  from 


72    Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

each  district.  If  then  the  mayor  is  accorded 
greater  power  of  appointment,  or  the  authority 
of  the  council  to  elect  other  city  officials  is  in- 
creased, it  is  easily  conceivable  that  the  voters 
of  a  ward  at  any  municipal  election  might  be 
called  upon  to  choose  only  a  mayor  and  one 
councilman.  There  is  no  reason  why  tax-asses- 
sors and  collectors,  city  treasurers  or  city 
clerks,  or  corporation  counsels,  should  be 
elected  by  the  people  at  all.  There  can  be  no 
argument  on  this  point  so  far  as  usage  is  con- 
cerned, because  in  almost  any  given  state  dif- 
ferences in  practice  may  be  found  in  cities  of 
the  same  size  separated  by  only  a  few  miles.* 
The  development  and  almost  miraculous 
spread  of  the  commission  government  move- 
ment in  American  cities  has  been  so  extraor- 
dinary as  to  constitute  one  of  the  most  striking 
revolutions  in  the  structure  of  government  in 
the  history  of  the  nation.  There  are  few  other 
instances  of  a  change  so  radical  and  involving 
such  a  complete  breaking  away  from  traditional 
forms  and  inherited  theories. 


*  Several  of  the  short  ballot,  simplified  charters  pro- 
vided for  in  the  Optional  City  Charter  law  enacted  by 
the  New  York  State  legislature  in  1914  adopted  this 
method.  The  judicial  officers  are  appointed  or  elected  as 
heretofore.  The  elected  city  officers  consist  only  of  a 
small  council  elected  by  wards  or  districts  and  a  mayor; 
all  other  city  officials  are  appointed  by  one  or  the  other 
of  these  authorities.     See  Appendix. 


Short  Ballot  Charters  73 

There  are  no  other  instances  in  which  such  a 
momentous  change  has  been  wrought  in  so  brief 
a  time.  Originally  adopted  to  meet  the  emer- 
gency resulting  from  the  complete  inability  of 
the  old  mayor-and-council  form  of  government 
to  handle  the  problems  resulting  from  the  tidal 
wave  and  flood  of  1900  in  Galveston,  Texas,  the 
first  commission  in  that  city  provided  for  the 
appointment  of  five  commissioners  by  the 
governor  of  the  state.  This  commission  accom- 
plished its  work  of  reconstructing  and  rehabil- 
itating the  city  in  a  manner  so  remarkably 
efficient  that  it  won  strong  popular  approval  at 
home  and  attracted  wide  interest  throughout 
the  country.  After  it  had  completed  its  work 
there  was  a  strong  movement  among  influential 
citizens  of  Galveston  to  continue  it  as  a  per- 
manent form  of  government.  The  suggestion 
that  the  commission  be  made  an  elective  one, 
however,  was  objected  to  on  the  ground  that 
the  greatly  increased  powers  devolving  on  such 
a  small  commission  might  not  be  safe  in  the 
hands  of  elected  commissioners.  A  compromise 
was  reached,  whereby  part  were  made  elective 
and  part  appointive.  A  court  decision  holding 
that  the  appointment  of  commissioners  by  the 
governor  was  unconstitutional  finally  forced 
upon  the  city  the  problem  of  electing  all  its 


74    Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

commissioners.  Fears  were  expressed  as  to  the 
result  but  they  were  not  justified  in  operation. 
The  commission  worked  well,  remained  remark- 
ably free  from  local  politics  and  continued  to 
provide  efficient  government  for  Galveston. 

There  had  been  several  trials  of  a  form  of 
government  by  municipal  commission  prior  to 
the  adoption  of  the  plan  in  Galveston.  Sacra- 
mento, as  far  back  as  1863,  had  a  charter 
granted  which  placed  its  government  in  the 
hands  of  a  board  of  trustees.  From  1870  to 
1882,  New  Orleans,  as  a  result  of  municipal 
bankruptcy,  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  board 
of  administrators,  and  a  similar  commission 
was  created  to  carry  on  the  government  of 
Memphis  after  the  yellow  fever  epidemic  of 
1874.  In  most  cases  these  were  merely  tem- 
porary expedients  designed  to  meet  an  emer- 
gency, and  as  precedents  had  apparently  no 
more  influence  outside  of  the  localities  con- 
cerned than  did  the  federal  commission  under 
which  the  City  of  Washington  has  been  gov- 
erned since  1878.  But,  possibly,  because  in 
1900  the  best  efforts  of  students  of  government 
had  been  centered  for  several  years  on  the 
problem  of  municipal  government,  whereas  in 
the  earlier  years  men  had  not  even  realized  that 
there  was  such  a  problem,  the  Galveston  prece- 


Short  Ballot  Charters  75 

dent  took  hold  where  previous  attempts  had 
gone  for  naught.  In  1905  the  neighboring  city 
of  Houston,  where  the  progress  of  Galveston 
had  been  watched  with  keen  interest,  adopted  a 
similar  form  of  government.  In  1907,  Des 
Moines,  Iowa,  adopted  the  plan  with  the  im- 
portant addition  of  non-partisan  primaries  and 
the  initiative,  referendum  and  recall.  The  Des 
Moines  plan,  which  was  embodied  in  the  Iowa 
municipal  law,  rather  than  the  earlier  Galves- 
ton plan,  has  been  the  accepted  standard  of 
commission  government.  By  October,  1916, 
more  than  four  hundred  cities  with  a  total  esti- 
mated population  of  more  than  eight  million 
were  operating  under  variations  of  one  or  the 
other  of  these  plans. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  attempt  a  defini- 
tion or  even  a  description  of  government  by 
municipal  commissions  at  this  day.  Most  peo- 
ple have  a  pretty  clear  idea  of  what  it  is.  How- 
ever, its  acceptance  has  meant  the  adoption  of 
certain  principles  and  practices  of  government 
that  take  us  far  away  from  the  long  accepted 
theories  of  checks  and  balances  and  give  fair 
promise  of  terminating  forever  the  evils  of 
partisan  misrule  and  legislative  interference. 
It  is  because  these  new  forms  have  proved  in 
practice   so  much  better  fitted  than  the   old 


76    Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

forms  for  the  adjustment  of  mnnicipal  affairs 
to  a  home  rule  basis  that  it  is  worth  while  to 
emphasize  some  of  the  most  important  factors 
in  the  situation  here. 

Commission  government  in  its  prevailing 
form  provides  for  the  application  of  the  short 
ballot  principle  by  the  election  of  a  governing 
body  consisting  of  a  small  number  of  commis- 
sioners, usually  not  more  than  five  in  number. 
Ordinarily,  oner  of  these  commissioners  bears 
the  title  of  mayor  and  as  such  is  the  recognized 
head  of  the  city  government,  but  aside  from 
presiding  at  the  meetings  of  the  commission 
and  acting  as  the  ceremonial  head  of  the  city 
when  the  occasion  demands,  he  has  little,  if  any, 
more  power  than  the  other  commissioners.  The 
commissioners  are  almost  invariably  elected 
at-large  for  tei^ms  varying  in  length  from  two 
to  four  years.  In  them  is  vested  all  authority, 
legislative  and  administrative.  They  raise  the 
money  necessary  for  running  the  city,  either 
acting  themselves  as  assessors  or  directing  the 
work  through  officers  appointed  by  them.  They 
appropriate  municipal  funds  thus  raised  in  their 
legislative  capacity  and  they  spend  the  money 
in  their  executive  capacities.  They  create  of- 
fices, appropriate  money  for  salaries  and  have 
the  power  of  appointment  and  removal,  thus, 


Short  Ballot  Charters  77 

under  tlie  civil  service  regulations,  having  com- 
plete control  of  the  municipal  service.  Each 
commissioner  becomes  the  administrative  head 
of  one  of  the  departments  into  which  the  city- 
government  is  divided,  and  is  held  directly  re- 
sponsible to  the  council,  or  commission,  for  the 
administration  of  that  department. 

An  extraordinary  degree  of  unification  and 
concentration  of  authority  is  thus  obtained  as 
compared  with  the  sort  of  municipal  organiza- 
tion we  have  been  accustomed  to.  But  with  this 
increase  of  authority  has  come  an  increase  in 
responsibility,  which  is  made  more  potent  in  a 
majority  of  instances  by  the  application  of  the 
initiative,  referendum  and  recall,  elsewhere  dis- 
cussed. But  even  where  these  provisions  are 
missing,  the  small  body  of  municipal  rulers  is 
more  easily  watched  than  the  diffused  and  dis- 
connected body  of  officials  that  generally  go  to 
make  up  a  city  administration  and  is,  therefore, 
more  easily  held  to  account  for  mal-administra- 
tion.  The  consolidation  of  the  legislative  and 
executive  authority  in  a  single  body  removes 
what  has  proved  in  practice  to  be,  not  the  safe- 
guard but  the  handicap,  of  the  separation  of 
powers  in  so  far  as  those  two  branches  of  gov- 
ernment are  concerned,  and  replaces  it  with  a 
workable  unification  of  powers.    By  the  provi- 


78    Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

sion  for  the  selection  of  but  a  small  body  of 
elected  officers  at  one  time  a  municipal  short 
ballot  has  been  practically  achieved.  But  aside 
from  the  form  of  the  municipal  government  on 
a  short  ballot  basis,  there  is  no  one  influence,  it 
cannot  be  too  often  emphasized,  that  makes 
more  certainly  for  its  success  in  operation  and 
its  adequacy  to  carry  out  popular  government 
on  a  proper  home  rule  foundation  than  the  pro- 
visions for  non-partisan  elections  which  are  an 
important  part  of  every  successful  commission 
government  plan. 

In  1909,  Grand  Junction,  Colorado,  in  adopt- 
ing the  commission  form,  added  the  preferen- 
tial ballot  to  the  scheme.  A  score  or  more  of 
cities  have  followed  its  lead  and  in  1915,  Ash- 
tabula, Ohio,  introduced  still  another  innovation 
by  providing  for  the  election  of  its  commission 
on  a  proportional  representation  basis. 

The  introduction  of  the  city  manager  plan, 
or  commission  manager  plan,  as  it  is  now 
usually  called,  beginning  with  its  adoption  by 
Sumter,  South  Carolina,  in  1912,  marked  the 
first  significant  change  in  the  structure  of  the 
commission  government  plan.  A  full  discus- 
sion of  this  plan  will  be  found  in  the  next 
chapter. 

In  another  respect  there  has  been  a  diverge 


Short  Ballot  Charters  79 

ence  from  the  original  plan  as  to  the  basis  on 
which  commissioners  were  chosen.  In  both  the 
Galveston  and  Des  Moines  plans,  the  commis- 
sioners were  elected  on  a  general  ticket  with 
power  to  divide  the  city  departments  among 
themselves  after  election.  In  1911,  Lynn,  Mass., 
in  adopting  the  commission  plan,  provided  for 
the  election  of  commissioners  to  fill  specific 
posts  in  the  city  government.  This  has  come  to 
be  known  as  the  specifi-c  office  plan  and  has  been 
very  widely  followed.  Kansas,  in  1913, 
amended  its  general  city  law  to  provide  for  this 
method  of  choice.  Advocates  of  this  plan  con- 
tend, on  the  one  hand,  that  candidates  for  office 
are  entitled  to  know  what  their  positions  will 
be,  if  elected,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  that  the 
voters  are  entitled  to  know  what  offices  the 
man  they  are  voting  f^r  is  to  fill.  It  has  been 
pointed  out  that  -an  admirable  candidate  might 
frequently  hesitate  to  run  if  he  did  not  feel  as- 
sured that  he  was  to  have  the  control  of  a 
particular  department,  and  that,  on  the  other 
hand,  many  voters  might  willingly  support  a 
candidate  for  head  of  one  department  but  would 
not  be  willing  to  have  him  direct  another  de- 
partment. 

The  argument  for  the  original  plan  of  divid- 
ing up  the  offices  among  the  commissioners  after 


80    Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

election  is  based  on  the  -theory  that  the  voters 
will  seldom,  if  ever,  go  into  the  question  of  the 
technical  or  professional  fitness  of  the  candi- 
dates to  hold  a  particular  office  but  that  they 
will  continue  to  choose  their  city  commissioners 
on  n  broad  representative  basis.  It  is  con- 
tended on  'behalf  of  this  original  plan  that  the 
commission  itself  is  better  able  to  apportion  the 
departments  properly  among  the  several  com- 
missioners with  due  consideration  for  their 
experience  -and  ability,  than  are  the  voters  to 
judge  fairly  of  the  comparative  ability  and 
qualifications  of  the  several  candidates  at  the 
polls.  Moreover,  it  is  contended  in  opposition 
to  the  Lynn  plan  that  it  tends  to  create  five  city 
governments  instead  of  one,  encourages  fric- 
tion, diminishes  the  influence  and  control  of  the 
commission  over  its  individual  members,  and, 
therefore,  lessens  the  effect  of  the  unification  of 
powers  which  has  always  been  one  of  the  chief 
arguments  for  the  adoption  of  the  commission 
form  of  government. 

There  is  a  great  deal  of  difference  of  opinion 
among  municipal  experts  as  to  whether  the 
usual  commission  form  of  government  can  be 
made  to  work  satisfactorily  in  cities  of  upward 
of  a  hundred  thousand  in  population.  It  has 
been  this  doubt  that  has  caused  the  f ramers  of 


Short  Ballot  Charters  81 

new  charters  in  some  of  our  large  cities  to  at- 
tempt a  modification  of  the  commission  plan  to 
fit  conditions  that  exist  only  in  the  larger  com- 
munities. Thus,  in  many  instances,  some  but 
not  all  of  the  good  points  of  the  commission 
charters  have  been  utilized.  "We  have  Boston 
and  Cleveland  and  San  Francisco,  all  adopting 
the  principle  of  the  non-partisan  election  and 
the  first  two  named  accepting  even  the  prefer- 
ential ballot.  Both  Boston  and  Cleveland  have 
made  a  slight  advance  in  the  direction  of  a  real 
short  ballot.  On  the  other  hand,  Buffalo  has 
actually  set  up  a  commission  government  with 
but  five  commissioners  chosen  at  large  on  a  non- 
partisan ballot  with  non-partisan  primaries. 
The  results  in  Buffalo  will  be  watched  with  keen 
interest  by  those  who  have  not  yet  made  up 
their  minds  whether  the  commission  plan  is 
adapted  to  large  cities.  A  considerable  degree 
of  improvement  is  to  be  looked  for  in  Buffalo, 
at  any  rate,  because  the  former  state  of  affairs 
under  its  old  charter  with  a  bi-cameral  legisla- 
ture was  so  bad  that  almost  any  change  would 
mean  an  improvement.  The  National  Munic- 
ipal League's  model  charter  does  not  attempt 
to  fix  the  number  of  commissioners  definitely. 
The  suggestion  is  made  that  the  number  may  be 
increased  up  to  twenty-five  in  the  case  of  larger 


82    Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

cities.  If  more  than  five  are  chosen,  provision 
should  be  made  for  the  choice  of  members  an- 
nually in  rotation.  For  cities  of  more  than  a 
hundred  thousand,  it  is  suggested  that  the  city- 
be  divided  into  large  districts,  each  choosing  a 
fixed  number  of  commissioners.  These  large 
districts  should  not  exceed  fifty  thousand  in 
population  except  perhaps  in  cities  of  more  than 
five  hundred  thousand. 

It  has  often  been  said  that  New  York  City 
has  what  practically  amounts  to  a  commission 
form  of  government  already.  It  has,  to  be  sure, 
a  board  of  aldermen  elected  by  wards,  but  the 
real  control  of  city  affairs  is  centred  in  the 
board  of  estimate,  made  up  of  the  mayor  and 
two  other  officers  chosen  at  large  and  the  bor- 
ough presidents  of  each  of  the  five  boroughs, 
which  are  virtually  cities  in  themselves.  Here 
we  have  large  legislative  and  money  appropri- 
ating powers  vested  in  the  administrative  heads 
of  the  city  government  with  a  very  consider- 
able fixing  of  responsibility,  and  with  the  prin- 
cipal officers  chosen  on  a  ballot  so  short  that 
the  attention  of  the  voter  can  be  easily  f  ocussed 
on  the  candidates. 

Commission  government  in  American  cities 
has  proved  more  than  a  relative  success.  Its 
acceptance  has  meant  infinitely  more  than  the 


Short  Ballot  Charters  83 

mere  adoption  of  a  new  plan  of  government. 
This  idea  has  never  been  better  expressed  than 
by  Richard  S.  Childs,  the  founder  of  the 
Short  Ballot  Organization,  when  he  said: 
*'No  mere  form  of  government  will  automatic- 
ally produce  good  government.  But  forms  can 
be  devised  that  will  automatically  give  popular 
government.  The  people's  work  at  the  polls 
can  be  made  obscure,  complex  and  difficult.  Or 
it  can  be  made  clear,  simple  and  easy.  Under 
the  commission  plan,  with  its  short  ballot,  the 
people's  work  is  very  clear,  very  simple,  very 
easy.  And  that  is  all  the  secret  there  is  to  the 
success  of  the  plan." 

So  in  operation  commission  government  has 
meant  progress  that  cannot  be  reckoned  in  com- 
parative tables  of  municipal  expenditures  or 
tax  rates.  There  are  many  instances  in  com- 
mission governed  cities  where  to  be  sure  the 
much-sought  advantages  of  lower  expenditures 
and  lower  tax  rates  have  been  attained.  The 
real  point  of  comparison,  however,  is  whether 
the  expenditures,  whatever  their  size,  have  been 
made  for  the  good  of  the  city  and  whether  the 
taxes  have  been  equably  assessed  and  honestly 
and  economically  administered.  In  other  words, 
the  achievements  of  commission  government 
must  be  stated  rather  in  terms  of  service  rend- 


84    Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

ered  to  tlie  dwellers  in  cities — services  which 
can  be  seen  and  understood  and  the  value  of 
which  can  be  estimated  because  they  are  rend- 
ered in  the  daylight.  The  old  doctrine  of  a 
separation  of  powers  had  more  than  one  sig- 
nificance; it  meant  too  often  merely  a  *' separa- 
tion" of  statutory  powers  from  the  officers 
chosen  theoretically  -to  exercise  them  and  their 
retention  instead  by  the  invisible  government  of 
the  political  machine.  The  new  doctrine  of  the 
unification  of  powers  exemplified  in  the  com- 
mission form  of  government  means  govern- 
ment *4n  the  open"  where  all  can  see  it,  and 
so  simply  organized  that  all  the  citizens  can 
understand  it  and  apply,  if  need  be,  an  effective 
corrective. 

In  other  words,  the  fundamental  idea  of  this 
simplified  form  of  city  government  means  the 
application  of  the  principle  of  a  democratized 
responsibility  operating  in  plain  view  in  place 
of  an  autocratic  and  irresponsible  machine  that 
worked  best  in  the  dark.  Such  a  change  can 
result  in  nothing  less  than  supplanting  the  rule 
of  the  politician  by  the  rule  of  the  people.  For 
that  reason,  if  for  no  other,  it  must  be  accepted 
as  one  of  the  most  powerful  agencies  yet  de- 
vised to  further  the  cause  of  municipal  free- 
dom. 


CHAPTER  V 


THE  CITY  MANAGER 


Clear  and  unquestionable  as  are  the  advan- 
tages of  the  ordinary  commission  form  of  gov- 
ernment over  the  old  mayor  and  council  plan, 
there  have  been  disclosed  in  actual  practice 
some  rather  serious  difficulties  in  the  way  of  its 
most  successful  operation.  Many  of  these 
weaknesses  or  defects  are  gradually  being  elimi- 
nated or  remedied.  But  the  process  of  political 
evolution  is  not  operating  here  in  such  a  way 
as  to  destroy  or  detract  from  the  fundamenfal 
principles  upon  which  the  extraordinary  suc- 
cess of  the  commission  plan  is  based.  The  in- 
troduction of  that  plan  meant  a  complete  revo- 
lution in  our  ideas  as  to  the  organization  and 
functions  of  city  government.  The  new  concep- 
tion of  what  municipal  government  means  and 
what  is  necessary  to  make  that  meaning  effec- 
tive has  never  been  lost  sight  of  in  any  of  the 
modifications  or  alterations  in  the  original 
plan. 

85 


86    Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

The  original  Galveston  plan  worked  well  even 
when  such  a  wholly  indefensible  anti-home  rule 
provision  as  that  vesting  the  appointment  of 
part  of  the  commission  in  the  hands  of  the  gov- 
ernor was  in  force.  Political  conditions  in  most 
of  the  cities  of  the  Southern  States  are  not  such 
as  to  emphasize  the  importance  of  a  non-parti- 
san choice  of  city  officers,  and  the  lack  of  such 
provisions  was  not  appreciated  in  Galveston, 
Nor  did  there  exist  so  great  a  fear  of  the  pos- 
sible dangers  in  a  highly  centralized  control 
without  adequate  means  of  holding  that  control 
responsible,  as  to  lead  to  the  adoption  of  pro- 
visions by  means  of  which  the  voters  might  take 
matters  into  their  own  hands  in  emergencies. 
It  remained  for  those  who  worked  out  the  Des 
Moines  plan  to  introduce  both  the  non-partisan 
nomination  and  election  of  officers  and  the  initi- 
ative, referendum  and  recall.  But  the  funda- 
mental principles  involved  in  the  Galveston 
plan  were  not  in  any  way  weakened ;  they  were 
merely  made  more  immediately  responsive  and 
responsible,  and  to  that  extent  their  effective- 
ness as  agencies  of  democratic  self-government 
was  increased.  Nor  has  the  adoption  of  the 
specific  office  plan  of  choosing  commissioners 
or  the  preferential  system  of  voting  altered  the 
purpose  or  structure  of  the  original  plan  in  any 
important  particular. 


The  City  Manager  87 

What  was  true  of  these  deviations  from  the 
original  plan  already  noted  also  remains  essen- 
tially true  of  what  is  by  far  the  most  important 
change  in  the  commission  plan  that  has  yet 
taken  place.  This  was  the  introduction  of  the 
city  manager  plan,  or,  as  it  is  now  more  cor- 
rectly coming  to  be  known,  the  commission 
manager  plan.  Eetaining  all  that  is  best  in  the 
original  plan,  including  the  small  governing 
board  with  centralized  powers  and  responsi- 
bilities chosen  according  to  the  short  ballot 
principle  and  on  a  non-partisan  basis,  and  usu- 
ally accepting  also  the  additional  safeguards  of 
the  recall  and  the  initiative  and  referendum,  the 
commission  manager  plan  nevertheless  marks 
the  first  really  significant  change  in  the  struc- 
ture of  the  commission  government  plan. 

The  first  city  in  the  United  States  to  place 
the  management  of  its  affairs  in  the  hands  of 
an  administrative  executive  was  Staunton,  Vir- 
ginia, which  in  1909  engaged  an  official  for  that 
purpose.  This  step  was  taken  by  authority  of 
a  city  ordinance  passed  by  the  existing  city 
government,  which  was  of  the  old  mayor  and 
council  type.  In  this  instance,  although  the 
importance  of  a  trained  expert  was  recognized, 
there  was  no  recognition  of  the  underlying  prin- 
ciple of  a  powerful  executive  controlled  by  a 


88    Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

^mall  elected  council  that  became  an  essential 
factor  in  the  later  commission  manager  type  of 
ch-arters.  This  latter  characteristic  was  first 
recognized  in  a  proposed  charter  drafted  for 
the  city  of  Lockport,  New  York,  and  embodied 
in  a  bill  which  was  introduced  in  the  New  York 
State  legislature  in  1911.  The  bill  did  not  pass, 
but  it  was  widely  discussed  as  an  interesting 
and  significant  ** innovation''  in  city  govern- 
ment, and  under  the  title  of  the  **  Lockport 
plan"  became  the  model  on  which  most  of  the 
later  commission  manager  charters  were  based. 
The  first  real  commission  manager  government 
was  put  into  operation  in  1912  in  Sumter, 
South  Carolina,  a  city  of  about  eight  thousand 
population,  as  the  result  of  a  special  act  of  the 
state  legislature,  which  gave  the  voters  of  that 
city  an  opportunity  to  choose  between  a  charter 
of  the  ordinary  commission  type  and  one  which 
provided  for  a  commission  at  nominal  salaries 
with  authority  to  hire  a  city  manager  and  fix 
his  duties.  The  city  manager  plan  was  adopted 
by  a  vote  of  three  to  one.  The  advantages  of 
the  new  plan  attracted  a  remarkable  degree  of 
attention,  and  the  good  results  obtained  in  the 
cities  which  first  adopted  it  overcame  the  scru- 
ples of  those  who,  although  convinced  that  com- 
mission government  did  not  mean  an  abdication 


The  City  Manager  89 

of  the  democratic  form  of  government,  were  at 
first  inclined  to  think  that  conferring  such 
extraordinary  powers  on  a  single  executive  was 
going  a  step  too  far.  City  after  city  adopted 
the  plan  until  by  the  fall  of  1916  there  were 
more  than  fifty  cities  with  a  population  of 
upward  of  half  a  million  living  under  govern- 
ments organized  on  the  commission  manager 
plan. 

A  great  impetus  was  given  to  the  popularity 
of  the  plan  by  its  adoption  in  Dayton,  Ohio.  A 
stute  law  was  enacted  in  Ohio  giving  any  city 
the  opportunity  to  'adopt  the  plan,  and  a  similar 
provision  placed  the  new  plan  on  the  same 
favorable  footing  under  the  Optional  City  Char- 
ter law  enacted  in  New  York  State  in  1914.* 
Virginia,  Massachusetts  and  other  states  have 
followed  the  New  York  plan  of  optional  char- 
ters, including  the  commission  manager  plan. 
The  new  form  X)f  government  therefore  seems 
in  a  fair  way  to  be  given  a  thorough  trial  and 
to  become  an  established  method  of  municipal 
government.  As  a  rule  the  cities  which  have 
adopted  the  commission  manager  plan  had 
already  taken  the  first  step  in  that  direction  by 
the  adoption  of  the  commission  plan.  But  there 
are  some  which  have  chosen  to  make  the  change 


*  See  Appendix. 


90    Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

directly  from  the  old  mayor  and  council  form, 
and  there  are  still  others  which  have  attempted 
to  graft  the  city  manager  on  the  old  council- 
manic  form.  These  latter  cannot  of  course  be 
considered  in  the  classification  of  commission 
manager  cities.* 

Under  the  commission  manager  plan  the  cen- 
tralization of  legislative  and  administrative 
powers,  which  has  been  a  fundamental  of  all 
true  commission  government  charters,  is  main- 
tained, but  with  an  important  modification. 
While  under  the  original  commission  plan  the 
voters  were  called  upon  to  choose  commission- 
ers who  exercised  either  collectively  or  indi- 
vidually all  legislative  and  administrative 
powers  of  government,  under  the  commission 
manager  plan  the  members  of  the  commission 
do  not  themselves  administer  the  city  depart- 
ments. A  small  council  or  commission  is  chosen 
usually  at  large  and  on  a  non-partisan  basis, 
just  as  under  the  ordinary  commission  plan. 
This  council  is  vested  with  full  legislative 
powers  and  with  a  general  power  of  super- 


*An  example  of  this  hybrid  type  of  charter  is  the  rather 
extraordinary  form  provided  for  in  the  city  of  Sherman, 
Texas.  The  charter  retains  the  old  mayor  and  council,  which 
elects  a  commission  of  three,  which  in  turn  chooses  a  city 
manager,  in  whom  is  vested  the  appointing  power.  ^  The  man- 
ager, however,  is  responsible  both  to  the  council  and  the 
commission. 


The  City  Manager  91 

vision  over  the  administration,  which,  however, 
they  do  not  exercise  directly  and  individually  I 
as  they  would  under  the  commission  plan,  but  / 
through  a  city  manager  who  is  chosen  by  them 
and  is  responsible  to  them  for  the  manner  in 
which  he  exercises  the  administrative  author- 
ity which  he  possesses,  under  their  control  and 
direction.    The  relationship  between  the  coun- 
cil under  this  plan  and  the  city  manager  has  ^ 
been  likened  both  to  that  of  the  board  of  direc- 
tors of  a  business  corporation  and  its  general 
manager,  and  to  that  of  the  ordinary  school 
superintendent  and  the  school  board. 

As  indicated  by  the  growing  popularity  of 
this  new  plan,  it  retains  almost  if  not  quite  all 
the  good  points  of  the  usual  commission  char- 
ters, and  in  addition  has  some  pronounced 
advantages  over  the  commission  form,  and  in 
at  least  one  important  particular  corrects  what 
has  frequently  been  criticised  as  a  weakness  of 
that  plan.  As  we  have  seen,  the  original  plan 
of  the  commission  government  charters  pro- 
vided that  each  member  of  the  elected  commis- 
sion should  become  the  executive  head  of  one 
of  the  several  departments  of  the  city  govern- 
ment, leaving  the  general  direction  of  the  ad- 
ministration and  the  determination  of  matters 
of  policy  to  be  carried  out  under  the  direction 


92    Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

of  the  council  as  a  whole.  In  practice  it  was 
found  that  there  were  in  many  instances  serious 
difficulties  of  adjustment  and  operation  under 
this  scheme.  It  was  discovered  for  one  thing 
that  the  commissioners  were  often  not  par- 
ticularly well  equipped  to  be  the  heads  of 
administrative  departments,  although  they 
might  be  men  of  admirable  judgment  where 
matters  of  policy  were  concerned.  Under  some 
commission  charters,  es  we  have  seen,  the  com- 
missioners were  authorized  to  divide  up  the 
departments  among  themselves  after  election. 
It  often  happened  under  this  system  that  bick- 
erings and  personal  jealousy  worked  to  the 
detriment  of  a  proper  carrying  out  of  this  plan. 
Sometimes  the  offices  were  divided  on  what  was 
virtually  a  trade  basis.  It  was  very  seldom  that 
there  was  not  at  least  a  compromise  some- 
where. These  obvious  difficulties  led  to  the 
adoption  of  the  so-called  specific  office  plan  of 
choosing  commissioners,  under  which  they  were 
elected  to  be  the  heads  of  particular  depart- 
ments. Under  this  modification  there  still  re- 
mained the  difficulty  of  trying  to  make  the  vot- 
ers of  the  city  the  best  judges  of  the  special 
fitness  of  a  particular  commissioner  to  under- 
take the  direction  of  a  particular  sort  of  admin- 
istrative work.    In  other  words  the  voters  were 


The  City  Manager  93 

called  upon  to  do  one  of  the  very  things 
that  the  short  ballot  is  supposed  to  eliminate, 
namely,  to  fill  offices  for  which  frequently  a 
special  training  or  professional  or  expert  knowl- 
edge is  required. 

In  operation  also  it  was  found  that  the  deter- 
mination of  questions  of  policy  by  administra- 
tive heads  who  had,  or  might  have,  an  interest 
in  putting  that  policy  into  effect,  frequently 
resulted  in  the  determination  of  such  matters 
on  an  improper  basis.  The  commissioner  of 
parks,  for  instance,  would  agree  to  the  purchase 
of  a  new  fire  engine  only  on  condition  that  he 
be  accorded  the  appointment  of  a  certain  num- 
ber of  additional  gardeners.  On  the  same  basis 
appropriations  were  frequently  determined, 
each  commissioner  striving  to  obtain  enough 
money  for  his  own  department  to  **make  a 
showing"  of  things  accomplished  for  the  city. 
Thus  money  was  appropriated  not  primarily 
with  the  ultimate  good  of  the  city  in  view,  but 
to  carry  out  the  stipulations  of  a  political  deal. 
It  was  found  also  that  there  were  real  evils  to 
be  met  as  a  result  of  the  fact  that  the  same  men 
who  voted  the  appropriations  spent  the  money 
appropriated. 

Another  tendency  in  the  wrong  direction  ob- 
served in  the  operation  of  the  regular  commis- 


94    Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

sion  charters  was  toward  the  creation  of  five 
or  more  separate  and  distinct  city  governments, 
a  difficulty  that  was  increased  rather  than 
diminished  by  the  specific  office  method  of 
choice.  Theoretically,  administrative  unity  was 
obtained  through  the  exercise  of  the  general 
supervisory  power  of  the  council,  as  the  ulti- 
mate source  of  authority  and  control.  Un- 
fortunately, in  practice  it  has  not  always 
worked  properly.  Commissioners  have  some- 
times felt  that  having  received  their  mandate 
directly  from  the  electorate  they  were  virtually 
independent  in  carrying  on  the  affairs  of  their 
own  department.  Their  whole  aim  seemed  fre- 
quently to  be  to  maintain  this  independence. 
This  resulted,  just  as  the  tendency  to  decide 
matters  of  policy  by  compromise  and  barter 
had  resulted,  in  a  lack  of  coordination  and 
uniformity  in  the  city  administration  which 
even  the  joint  action  of  well-intentioned  com- 
missions was  often  wholly  unable  to  overcome. 
By  abandoning  altogether  the  necessity  of  ob- 
taining experts  by  popular  vote  and  providing 
for  the  choice  of  an  administrative  executive, 
the  commission  manager  plan  accomplishes  the 
result  of  still  further  unifying  the  administra- 
tive work  of  the  city,  and  eliminates  the 
difficulties  growing  out  of  a  division  of  admin- 


The  City  Manager  95 

istrative  functions  among  elected  commisioners. 
Thus  under  the  city  manager  the  ideal  of  a  , 
centralized  efficiency  in  administrative  control  j 
is,  to  a  remarkable  degree,  achieved. 

The  city  manager  is,  or  ought  to  be,  chosen 
because  of  proved  qualifications  as  an  adminis- 
trator. As  a  rule  he  is  a  man  specially  trained 
or  experienced  in  administrative  work,  in  direct- 
ing large  bodies  of  men,  or  in  handling  great 
public  works.  He  himself  picks  the  men  who 
are  to  act  under  his  direction  as  heads  of  the 
important  city  departments  and  he  alone  is  the 
judge  of  their  fitness  for  the  positions  to  which 
he  assigns  them.  He  selects  the  administrative 
force  of  the  city  under  the  provisions  of  the 
civil  service  law,  or  ordinances.  His  appointees 
are  directly  responsible  to  him  and  he  in  turn 
is  responsible  to  the  commission  for  their  acts 
and  his  own.  Under  such  a  plan  there  is  never 
any  difficulty  in  fixing  the  responsibility  and  it 
becomes  increasingly  easy  and  simple  for  the 
people  of  the  city  to  ascertain  where  the  re- 
sponsibility lies. 

The  commission  or  council,  on  the  other  hand, 
freed  from  the  necessity  of  devoting  time  and 
thought  to  matters  of  detailed  administration, 
is  left  free  to  exercise  with  greater  opportunity 
for  discussion  and  consideration  the  important 


96    Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

legislative  functions  which  the  charter  lodges 
in  its  hands.  The  commissioners  are  better 
able  to  look  at  matters  of  general  policy  from 
an  unbiased  and  impartial  point  of  view  and 
their  value  as  truly  representative  law-makers 
is  greatly  enhanced.  The  confusion  that  has 
frequently  resulted  under  a  plan  where  they 
were  both  the  appropriators  of  public  money 
and  the  spenders  thereof  is  eliminated.  They 
are  few  in  number  and  are  easily  held  respon- 
sible not  only  for  their  own  acts  in  determining 
municipal  policies,  but  in  seeing  to  it  that  the 
city  under  the  direction  of  the  manager  chosen 
by  them  is  properly  administered. 

The  electorate  in  turn,  relieved  from  the  ne- 
cessity of  determining  the  fitness  of  a  particu- 
lar man  to  do  a  certain  sort  of  administrative 
work,  is  free  to  choose  its  commissioners  on  an 
entirely  new  and  much  sounder  basis.  A  promi- 
nent banker  or  lawyer  or  newspaper  editor 
might  make  a  very  poor  department  head  but 
nevertheless  be  especially  well  equipped  from 
knowledge  and  ability  to  help  direct  the  general 
policies  on  which  the  city  should  be  run.  Such 
a  man  the  electors  can  safely  place  in  the  coun- 
cil under  the  commission  manager  plan,  and 
great  abilities  that  might  otherwise  be  lost  to 
the  city  will  thereupon  become  a  usable  asset. 


The  City  Manager  97 

In  another  respect  the  quality  of  the  commis- 
sion can  be  strengthened  under  the  commission 
manager  plan.  The  demand  upon  any  man  to 
give  up  all  his  time  to  the  direction  of  a  city 
department,  which  must  generally  follow  in  a 
city  of  any  size,  frequently  prevents  a  city  from 
obtaining  for  its  commission  some  of  the  best 
qualified  men  in  the  city.  Under  the  commission 
manager  plan,  the  members  of  the  commission 
are  seldom  if  ever  required  to  devote  more  than 
a  small  part  of  their  time  to  the  affairs  of  the 
city,  and  thus  the  door  is  opened  for  admission 
to  the  city's  service  of  men  whose  connection 
with  the  city  government  in  a  directory  capacity 
would  be  invaluable.  As  a  rule  the  commis- 
sioners under  the  commission  manager  plan  are 
not  paid  salaries,  or  only  nominal  ones  at  most. 
It  is  the  testimony  of  those  who  have  studied 
this  phase  of  the  situation  that  the  new  plan 
has  resulted  in  an  immense  improvement  in  the 
character  and  quality  of  the  commissioners. 

It  is  plainly  of  the  utmost  importance  to  the 
success  of  the  commission  manager  plan  that 
the  absolute  independence  of  the  city  manager 
of  all  political  pressure  be  maintained.  It  is 
generally  considered  one  of  the  most  serious 
defects  of  the  Dayton  commission  manager 
charter  that  the  city  manager  was  made  subject 


98    Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

to  the  recall.  Whatever  the  arguments  for  the 
recall,  it  certainly  has  no  appropriate  place  in 
its  application  to  a  city  manager.  There  has 
existed  an  often  expressed  fear  that  as  long  as 
political  parties  continue  to  exert  influence 
enough  in  city  politics  to  enable  them  to  control 
elections,  and  certainly  so  long  as  local  party 
machines  and  party  bosses  strive  to  control  city 
officers  for  their  own  ends,  the  city  manager's 
position  must  be  a  precarious  one.  It  has  been 
argued  that  under  existing  conditions  in  our 
cities  he  might  even  make  himself  the  political 
as  well  as  the  administrative  director  of  the 
city's  affairs;  that  bosses  might  even  enter  the 
lists  as  competitors  for  the  post  of  city  man- 
ager. In  view  of  this  feeling  it  is  of  the  utmost 
importance  that  the  city  manager  be  kept  out 
of  politics.  It  is  because  the  recall  provisions 
of  the  Dayton  charter  would  tend  to  put  him 
into  politics  that  it  must  be  looked  upon  as  a 
serious  violation  of  the  approved  principle  of 
the  city  manager. 

The  fundamental  value  as  well  as  the  real 
effectiveness  of  the  city  manager  lies  in  the  fact 
that  he  is  solely  the  administrative  head  of  the 
city  government,  that  he  has  no  part  and  no 
actual  concern  in  questions  of  policy  which  are 
primarily  determined  by  the  electorate  in  choos- 


The  City  Manager  99 

ing  the  members  of  the  council.  His  work  is  to 
carry  out  the  policies  as  determined  by  the 
council.  He  is  presumed  to  give  them  the  bene- 
fit of  his  special  knowledge  and  to  make  his 
reports  to  them  with  recommendations  based 
on  ascertained  facts  as  to  existing  conditions. 
But  he  is  only  very  indirectly  concerned  with 
matters  of  municipal  policy.  If  his  position  is 
to  be  permanent  and  if  his  efficiency  and  impar- 
tiality are  to  be  adequately  maintained  he  must 
never  be  allowed  to  -assume  an  attitude  of  politi- 
cal independence  nor  must  it  be  made  possible 
to  look  upon  him  as  the  political  head  of  the  city 
government.  This  situation,  the  application  of 
the  recall  to  his  office  will  certainly  tend  to 
bring  about.  It  would  -scarcely  detract  more 
from  his  value  and  efficiency  to  make  him  an 
elective  officer  and  be  done  with  it.  The  mo- 
ment the  political  character  of  this  office  is  em- 
phasized then  and  there  one  of  the  fundamental 
ideas  of  a  centralized  and  responsible  executive 
involved  in  the  commission  plan  is  perverted; 
the  short  ballot  principle  is  weakened ;  the  non- 
partisan provisions  rendered  valueless  and  the 
essential  character  both  of  the  governing  coun- 
cil and  of  the  expert  administrator  is  destroyed. 
One  of  the  most  interesting  possibilities  of  a 
proper  development  of  the  commission  manager 


100  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

form  of  government  is  the  tendency  it  would 
have  to  create  a  profession  of  trained  munici- 
pal executives.  Already  there  have  been  several 
instances  of  a  city  manager  with  experience  in 
one  city  being  called  to  administer  the  affairs  of 
another.  To  render  this  development  natural 
the  authority  now  usually  enjoyed  which  allows 
a  commission  to  go  outside  its  own  borders  and 
employ  a  non-resident  as  city  manager  must  be 
maintained.  In  addition  the  non-partisan  char- 
acter of  the  city  manager  must  be  rigidly  en- 
forced. Most  of  the  city  managers  thus  far 
engaged  have  been  drawn  from  the  engineering 
profession,  a  natural  enough  tendency  consid- 
ering the  important  part  that  the  construction 
and  maintenance  of  public  works  plays  in  our 
municipal  administration.  But  there  is  no  real 
reason  why  the  choice  should  continue  to  be 
limited  to  engineers  and  there  is  every  reason 
to  hope  that  we  shall  soon  have  men  definitely 
setting  out  to  train  themselves  for  a  career  of 
public  service  as  city  managers.  When  that 
point  is  reached  and  the  material  benefits  to  a 
city  of  the  employment  of  such  experts  becomes 
more  and  more  evident,  a  long  step  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  municipal  government  on  a  sound 
basis  of  efficiency  will  have  been  achieved. 
A  careful  -study  of  the  commission  manager 


The  City  Manager  101 

modification  of  the  commission  form  cf  gbverii- 
ment  makes  it  worth  while  in  conclusion  to  em- 
phasize again  the  statement  that  it  retains  prac- 
tically all  of  the  strong  points  of  the  form  from 
which  it  developed,  with  the  addition  of  some 
distinct  improvements.  It  simplifies  rather 
than  complicates  the  task  of  the  voter,  one  of 
the  valuable  factors  in  the  short  ballot,  by  elimi- 
nating the  necessity  of  the  voter  passing  on  the 
administrative  qualifications  of  the  commission- 
ers. This  simplification  makes  clearer  the 
meaning  of  the  election  and  minimizes  wholly 
accidental  or  factitious  influences  in  the  result. 
To  that  extent  it  renders  the  voting  more  effec- 
tive and  increases  the  representative  character 
of  the  commission.  By  unifying  the  adminis- 
trative functions  of  the  government  it  makes 
for  harmony  in  the  working  of  the  departments 
and  in  the  end  results  in  greater  economy  and 
a  higher  degree  of  efficiency  in  the  government. 
A  little  consideration  makes  it  evident  that  it 
can  be  in  no  way  subversive  of  popular  govern- 
ment. The  argument  that  the  commission  form, 
instead  of  being  a  step  toward  an  autocratic 
form  of  government  affords  rather  a  clearer 
opportunity  for  the  maintenance  of  a  truly  rep- 
resentative form,  is  applicable  to  the  commis- 
sion manager  type  with  even  greater  force. 


102  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

Finally,  like  all  governmental  forms,  it  will 
work,  and  work  successfully,  just  to  the  extent 
that  it  is  upheld  and  vitalized  by  a  militant  and 
always  vigilant  municipal  spirit.  Its  particular 
advantage  over  other  forms  lies  in  the  fact  that 
the  municipal  spirit  without  which  municipal 
home  rule  itself  could  with  difficulty  be  attained, 
can  more  readily  and  more  certainly  make  itself 
felt  under  the  commission  manager  plan  than 
under  any  other  form  that  has  yet  been  con- 
trived. 


CHAPTER  VI 

ELIMINATING  THE  PABTIES 

We  have  discnssed  in  an  earlier  chapter  how 
and  why  the  revolt  against  the  interference  of 
national  political  parties  in  mnnicipal  affairs 
has  become  such  an  important  factor  in  the  de- 
mand for  municipal  home  rule.  We  have  also 
seen  how  necessary  to  the  achievement  of 
municipal  freedom  are  -such  factors  as  a  con- 
stitutional grant  of -authority  to  cities  to  control 
their  own  government  and  affairs  and  the  pro- 
hibition of  legislative  interference  in  the  affairs 
of  cities.  It  will  be  sufficient  here  to  point  out 
how  inextricably  interwoven  are  the  principles 
involved  in  these  two  lines  of  development  in 
the  present  movement  for  the  emancipation  of 
the  cities. 

V^A  city  may  have  a  large  degree  of  control  of 
its  government  and  be  freed  from  the  shackles 
of  legislative  interference,  and  yet,  if  its  elected 
officers  are  chosen  not  in  response  to  a  local 
popular  conviction  that  they  -are  best  qualified 

103 


104  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

to  serve  the  city,  but  because  their  views  on  the 
tariff  or  the  currency  question  happen  to  be 
orthodox  from  the  viewpoint  of  a  particular  po- 
litical party,  an  essential  element  in  the  self- 
government  of  the  city  is  lacking,  fit  is  just  as 
manifest  that  the  possession  of  large  home  rule 
powers  will  not  in  itself  mean  the  emancipation 
of  the  city  as  it  is  that  non-partisan  primaries 
and  elections  and  non-partisan  ballots  will  not 
alone  accomplish  that  result^  Municipal^free- 
dom_iQeaBs4usta^nmch.-eniajicipatipnf  the 
control  of  a  national  political  party,  which  can 
haye  only  a  selfish  and  sinister  interest  in  its 
afEairSjt^as  it  means  emancipation  from  burden- 
some constitutional  restrictions  on  its  power  to 
control  its  own  affairs.  The  actual  ideal  of 
local  self-government  is  reached  only  when  the 
powers,  however  great,  exercised  by  the  elected 
city  officers  represent  in  fullest  measure  the  ex- 
pressed opinion  of  the  local  electorate.  It  is 
clear  that  these  officers  must  be  responsible  to 
the  electors  they  represent  and  not  to  a  political 
party.  No  matter  on  what  basis  they  are 
elected,  they  must,  when  in  office,  represent  all 
the  people  of  the  city.  If  they  are  placed  in 
office  in  order  to  carry  out  a  definite  municipal 
policy,  they  must  carry  it  out  not  only  for  the 
best  interests  of  the  majority  which  elected 


Eliminating  the  Parties  105 

them  but  for  the  benefit  of  all  the  people  of  the 
city  including  the  minority  which  expressed_dis- 
approval  of  the  policy  in  their  votes,  feut  the 
city  ceases  to  enjoy  representative  government 
the  moment  its  elected  officers  shape  their  policy 
to  suit,  or  give  consideration  to,  the  views  of 
any  men  or  group  of  men  inside  or  outside  the 
city  merely  because  they  belong  to  the  same  | 
political  party  or  were  chosen  on  a  party^ticketr^ 

A  recognition  of  these  propositions  is 
considered  essential  to  representative  and 
re'sponsible  municipal  government  today. 
Twenty-five  years  back  only  a  few  saw  their 
significance  and  they  were  looked  upon  as 
dreamers.  Since  that  time  progress  toward  the 
goal  of  municipal  freedom  has  all  been  along 
these  lines.  It  has,  to  be  sure,  been  slow — ^but 
beyond  any  question  there  has  been  substantial 
progress.  There  are  still  many  obstacles  to  be 
overcome;  the  shackles  of  tradition  and  habit 
must  be  stricken  off ;  persistent  prejudices  must 
be  removed.  Even  today  this  idea  of  what  is 
necessary  to  make  our  cities  truly  self-govern- 
ing cannot  be  said  to  be  the  prevailing  one.  Yet 
scarcely  a  day  passes  that  it  does  not  take  hold 
in  some  new  place.  All  this  can  mean  only  one 
thing — that  we  are  at  the  beginning  of  a  new 
era  in  the  history  of  municipal  self-government. 


106  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

When  men  began  seriously  to  try  to  find  out 
what  was  the  trouble  with  municipal  govern- 
ment in  the  United  States  in  order  that  they 
might  apply  a  remedy,  they  did  not  at  once 
appreciate  that  there  was  any  radical  change 
necessary  in  the  form  of  city  government  or  in 
the  method  of  choosing  city  officers.  Th^y 
found  cities,  so  far  as  mere  form  went,  minia- 
ture reproductions  of  the  state  and  national 
governments,  with  all  the  machinery  for  the 
maintenance  of  the  system  of  checks  and  bal- 
ances believed  to  be  so  essential  to  all 
democratic  government.  But  so  far  as  actual 
power  was  concerned  cities  possessed  little  more 
than  the  ancient  police  power  for  the  protection 
of  life  and  property.  Wliat  few  powers  they 
did  possess  beyond  this  were  doled  out  to  them 
grudgingly  by  the  state  legislatures,  more  often 
for  political  reasons  than  in  response  to  a 
municipal  demand.  To  all  intents  and  purposes 
the  state  legislature  and  not  the  local  board  of 
aldermen  was  the  real  law-making  body  of  the 
city.  It  gave,  from  time  to  time,  to  individual 
cities  whatever  in  its  wisdom  or  in  the  wisdom 
of  the  men  who  controlled  it  seemed  necessary, 
and  what  it  gave  it  always  retained  the  power 
to  take  away. 

Those  who  looked  into  the  condition  of  cities 


Eliminating  the  Parties  107 

a  quarter  of  a  century  ago  found  that  there  ex- 
isted little  or  no  understanding  of  the  difference 
between  the  administrative  functions  of  a  city 
government  and  its  political  functions,  and  that 
as  a  result  the  administrative  machinery  was 
manned  by  political  employees  who  ran  it  for 
the  benefit  of  the  political  party  to  which  they 
owed  their  jobs  rather  than  of  the  city  which 
paid  them  their  salaries.  In  other  words,  these 
investigators  found  in  our  cities  executive 
responsibility  wholly  lacking,  any  real  appre- 
ciation of  civic  responsibility  non-existent  and 
the  underlying  principles  of  representative 
government  ignored  and  distorted.  They  found 
that  the  situation  could  be  summed  up  in  the 
statement  of  the  patent  fact  that  city  govern- 
ment had  become  a  mere  adjunct — although  a 
most  important  one — of  party  government. 
Cities  had  virtually  ceased  to  be  representative, 
self-governing  communities.  They  were  pri- 
marily, almost  exclusively,  the  happy  hunting 
ground  for  politicians. 

When  those  who  set  themselves  to  the  diffi- 
cult task  of  ending  these  intolerable  conditions 
came  to  realize  these  facts  and  the  immensity 
of  the  problem  before  them,  they  naturally 
turned  their  attention  first  to  those  most  obvi- 
ous defects  which  seemed  to  promise  the  great- 


108  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

est  results  in  the  shortest  time.  The  success  of 
these  efforts,  although  still  incomplete  in  many 
respects,  was  substantial  and  far-reaching  in 
its  effects.  Thus  was  brought  about  a  tremen- 
dous reform  in  the  administrative  branches  of 
city  government  through  the  wide  acceptance 
and  practical  application  of  the  idea  of  a  mu- 
nicipal civil  service  based  on  merit.  This  was 
a  blow  at  the  very  citadel  of  partisan  political 
control.  Through  similar  efforts  a  check  was 
put  on  the  evil  practice  of  giving  away  public 
service  franchises  as  political  favors  without 
adequate  return  to  the  city  either  in  revenue  or 
assured  service.  Stringent,  corrupt  practice 
laws  were  passed  to  assure  honesty  in  the  elec- 
tion of  public  officers  and  their  integrity  after 
election.  The  municipal  legislative  machinery 
was  simplified  by  doing  away  very  largely  with 
the  cumbersome  and  unnecessary  bicameral  sys- 
tem of  local  legislatures.  In  many  states  the 
constitutions  were  amended  so  as  to  provide  for 
a  separation  of  municipal  from  national  and 
state  elections.  Every  effort  to  bring  about 
reforms  in  primary,  election  and  ballot  laws, 
and  the  creation  of  such  safeguards  as  are 
afforded  by  personal  registration  laws,  was  en- 
couraged. Somewhat  later  began  the  attempt 
to  fix  party  responsibility  for  nominations  and 


Eliminating  the  Parties  109 

to  make  those  nominations  more  representative 
of  public  opinion  within  the  cities,  by  the  ap- 
plication of  direct  primary  laws  to  the  election 
of  local  officers.  5 

At  the  same  time  an  attempt  to  fix  responsi- 
bility in  matters  of  public  policy,  and  to  unify 
and  perfect  the  machinery  of  government, 
developed  in  the  movement  to  increase  the 
authority  of  the  mayor  and  in  particular  to  give 
him  larger  powers  of  appointment  of  depart- 
mental heads,  frequently  without  the  require- 
ment of  confirmation  by  the  city  legislature, 
which  body  tended  more  and  more  to  become  a 
subordinate  branch  of  the  city  government  and 
to  be  deprived  of  its  former  extensive  powers. 
Before  this  centralizing  tendency  had  come  to 
be  generally  accepted,  however,  it  was  given  a 
new  direction  by  the  development  of  the  com- 
mission form  of  government,  in  which,  to  the 
principle  of  centralized  authority  and  fixed 
responsibility,  was  added  a  recognition  of  the 
principle  of  the  short  ballot.  And,  finally,  there 
came  the  commission  manager  plan  of  govern- 
ment with  its  idea  of  the  controlled  executive 
and  a  smoother  adjustment  and  more  complete 
separation  of  the  policy  determining  and  policy 
executing  machinery. 

Thus,  step  by  step,  the  way  has  been  cleared 


110  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

for  the  acceptance  of  non-partisan  municipal 
elections  and  a  fair  consideration  of  other  elec- 
toral proposals  that  give  promise  of  vitalizing 
the  ballot  and,  at  the  same  time,  increasing  the 
responsiveness  of  the  electorate  and  strengthen- 
ing the  representative  character  of  the  elected 
officers.  Every  such  step  means  the  enlarge- 
ment of  the  opportunities  of  the  people  of  a 
city  first  to  determine  the  policies  of  their  city 
government  and  then  to  control  these  policies 
through  the  men  they  have  chosen  to  carry  them 
out.  They  all  indicate  substantial  progress  in 
the  direction  of  municipal  home  rule.  Most  of 
them,  indeed,  are  essential  to  real  home  rule  in 
its  broader  sense.  Every  such  advance  con- 
tributes just  as  certainly  as  do  the  removal  of 
constitutional  barriers  to  the  consummation  of 
that  ideal  of  a  self-governing  city,  emancipated 
from  the  handicaps  of  outgrown  forms,  freed 
from  the  incubus  of  machine  politics  and  pos- 
sessing both  the  actual  power  and  the  active 
desire  to  work  out  its  owm  municipal  destiny. 
Some  of  these  proposals  in  regard  to  munici- 
pal elections  it  is  necessary  to  pay  particular 
attention  to  in  this  place.  Perhaps  no  single 
one  of  these  suggested  reforms  seemed  to  prom- 
ise more  for  the  improvement  of  political 
conditions  in  our  cities  than  did  the  direct  pri- 


Eliminating  the  Parties  111 

mary.  From  the  very  start  of  the  direct 
primary  movement  it  was  felt  that,  so  far  as 
the  selection  of  local  party  candidates  was  con- 
cerned, the  direct  primary  would  prove  a  much 
more  important  factor  in  the  city  than  in  the 
rural  sections  and  villages.  Often  rural  legis- 
lators in  the  discussion  of  proposed  direct 
primary  laws  would  remark,  *'We  don't  need 
any  such  thing  up  our  way.  We  usually  know 
our  candidates  and  if  we  don't,  we  can  easily 
find  out  all  about  them.  But  maybe  you  city 
folks,  who  don't  have  any  neighbours,  do  need 
them."  But  this  line  of  talk  did  not  alter  the 
conviction  that  the  direct  primary  meant  an 
opportunity  never  before  enjoyed  for  the  party 
voter  to  let  the  party  leaders  know  the  man,  or 
the  type  of  man  in  his  own  party,  that  he  wanted 
to  vote  for.  It  was  on  this  basis,  and  in  this 
hope,  that  this  effort  to  democratize  the  party 
organizations,  and  to  provide  party  leaders 
with  a  proper  sense  of  responsibility,  found 
acceptance. 

That  the  direct  primary  has  done  much — 
more  in  some  parts  of  the  country  than 
in  others — ^to  democratize  party  organization, 
needs  no  assertion.  But  that  it  has  not 
meant  all  that  many  of  its  ardent  ad- 
vocates hoped  for  it  is  also  self-evident.    Yet 


112  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

there  were  many  clear-headed  men  like  Gover- 
nor Hughes  of  New  York  who  looked  at  it  pri- 
marily from  the  point  of  view  of  the  opportunity 
it  offered.  They  did  not  conceive  it  to  be  a 
cure-all.  They  did  not  believe  it  would  guaran- 
tee the  choice  of  the  fittest  candidate.  It  might 
even  prove  unnecessary  in  many,  perhaps  in 
most  instancesj^but  it  would,  they  hoped,  prove 
a  really  important  instrument  for  democratiz- 
ing the  party  whenever  a  real  need  arose.|  In 
cases  where  the  organization  picks  its  candidate 
before  the  primary  either  by  agreement  or  by 
caucus,  the  primary  becomes  practically  a 
referendum  on  the  organization  nominee. 
Under  such  circumstances  this  should  be  an 
inducement  for  the  leaders  to  pick  only  fit 
candidates.  And  thus  it  has  frequently  proved 
in  practice.  On  the  other  hand,  a  candidate 
known  to  be  favored  by  the  party  organization 
usually  has  the  advantage  of  the  strict  organi- 
zation vote.  If  there  is  no  concerted  opposition 
to  the  organization,  he  will  win  nine  times  out 
of  ten,  other  things  being  equal.  In  cases  of 
real  primary  contests  the  party  leaders  fre- 
quently see  to  it  that  the  opposition  vote  is 
divided  between  two  or  more  candidates.  In 
respect  to  nominating  petitions  the  regular 
organization  candidate  again  has  the  advantage 


Eliminating  the  Parties  113 

of  having  his  petition  circulated  for  him  by 
party  workers. 

But  perhaps  the  most  important  contribution 
of  the  direct  primary  to  the  progressive  move- 
ment in  municipal  government  lay  in  its 
emphasizing  the  responsibility  of  the  voter  in 
seeing  that  the  elective  offices  were  filled  with 
capable  men.  Several  years  ago,  C.  E.  Mer- 
riam,  in  his  valuable  little  book  on  **  Primary 
Elections,"  uttered  a  warning  against  the  dan- 
ger of  the  notion  that  the  direct  primary  would 
operate  automatically  to  provide  a  superior 
type  of  public  officials.  *  *  There  is  no  automatic 
device  that  will  secure  smoothly  running  self- 
government  while  the  people  sleep,"  he 
declared.  Since  this  was  written,  the  direct 
primary  has  proved  itself  a  success  or  a  failure 
just  to  the  extent  that  the  electorate  was  awake 
to  its  needs  and  its  opportunities.  That  it 
has,  on  the  whole,  aroused  a  larger  proportion 
of  the  voters  than  ever  before  to  a  considera- 
tion of  their  duties  and  obligations  in  choosing 
their  representatives  is  beyond  all  question. 

And  it  has  done  more  than  this :  It  has  famil- 
iarized the  people  with  electoral  matters  as 
nothing  else  has  done.  It  has  set  them  thinking 
about  the  problem  of  representative  govern- 
ment as  nothing  else  ever  has.    In  particular 


114  Emancipation  of  the  American  City    ^ 

have  the  dwellers  in  cities  formed  the  habit  of 
looking  into  the  qualifications  of  the  men  who 
are  to  spend  or  direct  the  expenditure  of  the 
city 's  money.  They  have  gotten  in  the  way,  too, 
of  watching  these  representatives  more  closely 
after  they  are  in  office.  To  many  it  has  come 
as  something  of  a  shock  to  discover  how  far 
removed  were  the  policies  these  officers  were 
compelled  to  formulate  or  carry  out,  from  the 
policies  of  the  political  party  which  was  in 
theory,  at  least,  primarily  responsible  for  put- 
ting them  in  office.  Then  the  awakened  electors 
began  to  reason.  If  the  direct  party  primary, 
by  opening  the  door  of  opportunity  to  all  the 
members  of  a  party,  had  the  effect  of  democra- 
tizing the  party  organization,  why  would  it  not 
be  a  further  improvement  to  open  wide  the  door 
of  opportunity  to  all  members  of  all  parties  in 
the  hope  of  democratizing  the  whole  municipal 
electoral  system.  If  it  were  possible  to  shift 
the  burden  of  responsibility  for  party  nominees 
from  the  boss  to  the  enrolled  party  voters,  why 
would  it  not  be  a  good  idea  to  go  a  step  farther 
and  shift  the  responsibility  for  both  the  nomi- 
nation and  election  of  their  representatives 
from  the  shoulders  of  one  political  party  to 
those  of  the  whole  electoral  body.  In  other 
words — why  not  conduct  municipal  primaries 


1 


Eliminating  the  Parties  115 

and  municipal  elections  on  a  non-partisan  basis. 
Thus  it  came  about  that  the  idea  of  non-parti- 
sanship in  city  elections  received  an  impetus 
from  the  direct  primary. 

To  be  sure  there  were  other  influences  at 
work  and  a  good  deal  of  fertile  ground  for  the 
movement  to  take  root  in.  In  many  of  the 
smaller  cities  it  had  long  been  the  usual  practice 
to  conduct  city  elections  on  non-partisan 
grounds.  There  had  been  successful  independ- 
ent movements  in  many  of  the  larger  cities. 
There  was  also  a  rapidly  growing  appreciation 
of  the  fact  that  the  business  of  running  a  city 
was  very  largely  a  problem  of  administration 
with  very  little  legitimate  room  for  politics  in 
it  anyhow.  This  idea  was  crystallized  in  the 
commission  government  charters,  a  great  ma- 
jority of  which  have  provisions  for  non-parti- 
san primaries  and  elections.  But  the  movement 
did  not  stop  there,  and  today  there  are  many 
cities  which  have  not  commission  charters, 
among  them  Boston  and  Cleveland,  which 
choose  their  officers  on  a  non-partisan  ticket. 

There  are  several  factors  of  importance  that 
must  be  borne  in  mind  in  any  discussion  of  the 
feasibility  and  workability  of  a  system  of  non- 
partisan primaries  and  elections.  In  the  first 
place  it  must  be  remembered  that  we  are  coix- 


116  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

sidering  here  not  a  doing  away  with  party 
government  but  merely  the  application  of  a  new 
idea  to  municipal  elections  that  will  eliminate, 
to  a  great  degree,  if  not  entirely,  the  evil  in- 
fluences that  have  been  exerted  by  political 
parties  in  city  affairs  from  the  very  beginning. 
We  must  consider  whether  it  is  really  possible 
to  apply  a  workable  plan  of  non-partisan  elec- 
tions to  city  government.  Then  there  will 
naturally  follow  a  number  of  queries  such  as 
whether  non-partisan  elections  really  eliminate 
partisan  political  control  of  city  government; 
what  will  be  their  effect  on  the  electorate ;  what 
will  be  their  effect  on  political  parties,  and 
what  will  be  the  effect  on  the  city  adminis- 
tration? 

It  may  be  said  without  a  moment's  hesitation 
that  a  workable  non-partisan  plan  of  primaries 
and  elections  is  perfectly  practicable.  It  may 
work  better  in  some  places  than  in  others.  It 
may  even  have  somewhat  different  results  in 
different  cities  or  different  parts  of  the  country 
or  in  cities  of  varying  sizes.  But  the  one  cer- 
tain and  definite  fact  to  be  kept  in  mind — a  fact 
that  offers  an  uncontrovertible  answer  to  this 
question — is  that  non-partisan  elections  are  ac- 
tually working  successfully  in  every  part  of  the 
country  today  from  ocean  to  ocean,  from  Can- 


Eliminating  the  Parties  117 

ada  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  that  they  are 
working  just  as  successfully,  too,  in  cities  of 
half  a  million  or  more,  such  as  Boston  and 
Cleveland  and  Buffalo,  as  in  cities  of  twenty-five 
hundred  inhabitants.  These  plans  differ  in  scope 
and  in  thoroughness.  Their  provisions  are  dis- 
similar. Some  that  are  practically  identical 
work  differently  in  different  places,  and  at  dif- 
ferent times  and  under  different  local  conditions 
in  the  same  place. 

These  systems  have  not  always  resulted  in 
the  complete  elimination  of  partisan  political 
control  in  cities.  It  would  be  too  much  to  ex- 
pect that  any  statute  could,  in  a  year's  time,  or 
in  five  years,  change  absolutely  the  habits  of 
political  thought  and  the  methods  of  political 
action  of  generations.  But  in  every  instance 
where  the  new  plan  has  actually  been  tried 
under  anything  like  favorable  conditions  and  in 
anything  like  effective  form,  it  has  resulted  un- 
mistakably in  breaking  the  grip  of  the  political 
parties  on  the  city  administration.  It  must  be 
remembered  that  here,  just  as  in  the  case  of  the 
direct  primary  system,  much  depends  on  the 
attitude  of  the  great  body  of  electors.  If  they 
are  awake  to  the  situation  they  will  see  to  it  that 
both  the  letter  and  the  spirit  of  the  law  are 
observed  by  the  political  machines  and  that 


118  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

politicians  keep  their  hands  off  the  electoral 
machinery  so  far  as  the  choice  of  city  officers  is 
concerned.  Adequate  provisions  in  the  law  or 
in  a  city  charter  are,  of  course,  essential. 
Laws  supply  only  the  framework  and  it  re- 
mains for  the  electorate  to  fill  it  in  and  vitalize 
it.  The  law  offers  an  opportunity  which  the 
people  may  accept  or  neglect.  It  will  not  work 
automatically  any  more  than  the  direct  primary, 
or  the  initiative  or  the  recall.  It  requires  a 
vital  affirmative  assertion  of  the  civic  spirit  not 
spasmodically  expressed,  but  sustained  and 
persistent,  to  demonstrate  that  this  instrument 
of  self-government  is  a  workable  force 
in  the  creation  of  a  self-governing  municipal 
state. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  realization 
that  they  are  armed  with  a  new  weapon  with 
which  they  can  force  the  selection  of  public 
officers  capable  of  carrying  on  the  administra- 
tion of  a  city  for  the  city's  good,  must  and  does 
have  a  tonic  effect  on  the  entire  electorate. 
There  used  to  be  frequent  complaints  that  it 
was  a  waste  of  time  to  take  part  in  party  pri- 
maries, even  in  direct  primaries,  as  the  political 
machine  would  always  be  able  to  carry  through 
its  plans  when  it  wished.  So  long  as  this  dis- 
couraging  spirit  prevailed  the   situation  ap- 


L 


Eliminating  the  Parties  119 

peared  hopeless.  But  there  were  communities, 
happily,  where  the  voters  determined  to  see 
what  the  new  plan  was  worth.  When  it  worked 
it  served  as  a  complete  rejoinder  to  assertions 
of  those  lazy-minded  persons  who  foretold  that 
effort  was  not  worth  while.  And  just  as  throw- 
ing on  the  party  voters  the  responsibility  for 
choosing  fit  candidates  for  the  party  resulted 
in  arousing  a  new  interest  in  electoral  methods 
and  a  consequent  improvement  in  the  character 
of  elected  officers,  so  does  the  non-partisan  sys- 
tem of  elections,  in  an  even  greater  degree, 
arouse  interest  in  the  electors  of  all  parties  to 
see  that  their  city  shall  enjoy  real  self-govern- 
ment and  not  government  by  a  political  party. 
There  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  the  general 
adoption  of  non-partisan  systems  of  election 
in  our  cities  will  result  in  the  destruction  of 
party  government  as  so  many  have  prophesied. 
It  will  merely  limit  political  parties  to  opera- 
tions in  their  proper  fields.  Just  as  a  proper 
home  rule  constitutional  provision  should  re- 
lieve the  legislature  from  the  burden  of  petty 
local  legislation  and  leave  it  free  to  determine 
great  measures  of  state  policy,  so  will  the  ap- 
plication of  the  principle  of  non-partisan  city 
elections  relieve  political  parties  of  the  neces- 
sity   of    attempting   the    impossible    task    of 


120  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

formulating  a  municipal  policy  that  will  bear 
some  natural  analogy  to  their  programme  for 
national  and  state  government.  But  the  new 
plan  ought  to  do  more  than  that.  It  ought  to 
relieve  party  leaders  of  the  trouble  of  wasting 
their  time  in  the  consideration  of  the  innumer- 
able petty  squabbles  and  the  troublesome  prob- 
lems of  ward  politics  and  personal  preferment. 
There  were  those  who  prophesied  that  the 
enactment  of  civil  service  laws  would  destroy 
parties.  They  did  not,  and  most  party  leaders 
will  declare  today  that  they  are  heartily  glad 
that  the  laws  exist,  and  that  they  would  not 
want  to  be  bothered  with  trying  to  find  jobs  for 
a  hundred  members  of  their  party  where  they 
only  have  to  find  a  place  for  one  today.  They 
will  even  go  so  far  as  to  admit  that  the  present 
condition  is  better  for  the  party,  and  results  in 
less  factional  strife  than  in  the  old  days  when 
the  spoils  system  dominated  every  political 
organization.  So  long  as  political  parties  nom- 
inate local  tickets  they  must  accept  both  the 
advantage  and  the  disadvantage  that  comes 
with  such  action.  It  frequently  happens  that 
a  political  reaction  against  a  party  in  the  state 
will  result  in  the  defeat  of  a  local  ticket  that 
should  not  have  been  subjected  to  such  an  ad- 
verse influence.    In  the  same  way,  it  sometimes 


Eliminating  the  Parties  121 

happens,  as  in  New  York  and  some  other  states, 
that  the  legislative  ticket  is  chosen  at  the  same 
time  as  a  city  ticket.  A  bitter  light  on  some 
purely  local  issue  such  as  the  erection  of  a  gar- 
bage disposal  plant  or  a  new  sewer  system 
might  result  in  the  defeat  of  efficient  members 
of  the  state  legislature  whose  candidacy  ought 
to  be  considered  on  the  basis  of  their  state  legis- 
lative record  alone. 

There  is  no  need  to  discuss  here  the  beneficial 
effect  of  non-partisan  municipal  elections  on 
city  administration.  The  answer  to  that  ques- 
tion is  to  be  found  written  all  through  this  vol- 
ume from  cover  to  cover. 

In  any  system  of  non-partisan  selection  of 
public  officers  the  relationship  between  the  pri- 
mary, where  it  exists,  and  the  regular  election 
is  closer  than  it  is  under  a  system  where  party 
nominations  are  permitted.  A  combination  of 
non-partisan  primaries  and  partisan  elections 
would  be  unworkable  and  meaningless.  Parti- 
san primaries  might,  indeed,  be  used  to  choose 
nominees  for  a  ballot  without  party  emblems  or 
names,  but  such  a  hybrid  form  would  seldom, 
if  ever,  prove  satisfactory  even  if  workable.  It 
would  be  at  most  only  a  half  recognition  of  the 
non-partisan  principle,  with  little  or  no  advan- 
tage to  the  political  parties,  and  of  doubtful 
benefit  to  anyone  else. 


122  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

The  nsual  form  of  non-partisan  nominations 
and  elections  is  that  originally  embodied  in  the 
Des  Moines  plan  of  commission  government  in 
1907  and  since  then  very  generally  adopted  as 
an  essential  of  almost  every  commission  govern- 
ment charter.  This  plan,  the  idea  of  which  is 
attributed  to  Senator  Albert  B.  Cummins,  then 
Governor  of  Iowa,  provided  for  what  virtually 
amounted  to  a  double  election.  At  the  first  elec- 
tion, which  has  come  to  be  known  as  an  elim- 
inating election,  any  qualified  elector  who  can 
obtain  a  certain  number  of  signers  to  his 
petition  can  become  a  candidate.  At  this  elec- 
tion the  two  candidates  receiving  the  highest 
number  of  votes  for  each  office  become  candi- 
dates in  the  second  election.  All  other 
aspirants  are  eliminated.  If  there  is  more  than 
one  office  in  a  group  to  be  filled,  as  in  choosing 
members  of  a  commission,  a  number  of  candi- 
dates equal  to  twice  the  number  of  offices  to  be 
filled  is  permitted  on  the  second  ballot.  This  is 
the  plan  that  is  working  with  a  considerable 
degree  of  success  in  upward  of  three  hundred 
commission  governed  cities  in  the  United  States 
today,  and  in  a  number  of  cities  that  have  non- 
partisan elections  without  the  commission  form. 
A  deviation  from  this  best-known  type  in  a 
very  important  particular  was  incorporated  in 


Eliminating  the  Parties  123 

the  commission  charter  of  Berkeley,  California, 
and  has  been  adopted  by  San  Francisco,  Los 
Angeles  and  several  other  cities  and  is  a  feature 
of  the  optional  non-partisan  municipal  elections 
bill  which  is  now  being  advocated  in  New  York 
State.  This  deviation  consists  in  a  provision 
that  any  candidate  receiving  a  majority  of  all 
the  votes  cast  at  the  eliminating  or  primary 
election,  shall  be  deemed  elected,  and  that  only 
those  offices  shall  be  filled  at  the  second  election, 
for  which  no  candidate  received  a  majority  at 
the  first.  Otherwise,  as  in  the  Des  Moines  plan, 
the  names  of  the  two  candidates  receiving  the 
highest  number  of  votes,  or  in  case  more  than 
one  office  is  to  be  filled,  twice  the  number  appear 
on  the  second  ballot. 

The  question  of  how  to  get  names  on  the  bal- 
lot at  the  first  election  has  been  a  subject  of 
considerable  discussion  and  no  little  difference 
of  opinion.  The  Des  Moines  plan  required  but 
twenty-five  names  to  a  petition.  In  some  com- 
mission plan  cities  it  is  lower,  in  others  higher. 
Some  authorities  have  contended  that  there 
should  be  absolutely  no  restrictions,  and  that 
any  qualified  elector  may  become  a  candidate 
merely  by  filing  a  statement  of  his  intentions. 
The  argument  for  this  is  that  when  anyone  may 
get  on  the  ballot  by  saying  he  wants  to,  such 


124  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

nominations  will  cease  to  be  sought  as  an  honor, 
and  that,  therefore,  only  those  who  have  a  real 
chance  will  enter  such  a  contest.* 

On  the  other  hand,  most  authorities  hold  that, 
notwithstanding  some  evidence  that  it  has 
worked  otherwise  in  England,  where  few  re- 
strictions are  put  on  nominations,  such  a  plan 
in  this  country  would  increase  the  number  of 
nominees  beyond  all  reason.  At  the  first  elec- 
tion in  Des  Moines,  for  instance,  where  there  is 
some  restriction,  under  the  new  plan  there  were 
over  fifty  candidates  at  the  primary  for  the  five 
positions  to  be  filled.  But  the  requirement  of  a 
large  percentage  of  signers  to  nominating  pe- 
titions is  likewise  bad  in  its  results.  Under  the 
requirement  in  the  proposed  New  York  law  for 
optional  non-partisan  city  elections  that  nomi- 
nations are  to  be  signed  by  voters  equal  to  ten 
per  cent,  of  the  number  of  votes  cast  at  the  last 


*  This  is  the  view  taken  by  Prof.  Herman  G.  James  in 
his  admirable  little  book  on  "Applied  City  Government." 
He  says:  'The  maxim  holds  good  in  politics,  as  else- 
where, that  what  is  easy  to  get  is  usually  not  worth  the 
going  after,  unless  it  leads  to  something  that  is  worth 
while.  When  it  required  considerable  political  influence 
to  obtain  a  party  nomination  it  became  worth  while  to 
struggle  for  it,  even  though  the  party  was  defeated,  since 
the  mere  nomination  evidenced  political  power.  But  when 
everyone  can  without  any  influence  or  power  have  his 
name  appear  on  the  official  ballot,  the  mere  appearing 
there  is  no  longer  an  honor,  and  few  men  will  appear  as 
candidates  who  know  there  is  no  possibility  of  their  being 
elected." 


Eliminating  the  Parties  125 

preceding  election,  it  would  have  required 
62,000  signatures  to  place  a  candidate  for  mayor 
of  New  York  in  nomination.  This,  of  course, 
would  be  absurdly  high,  and  the  fact  was  rec- 
ognized by  a  provision  that  in  no  city  should 
more  than  5,000  signers  be  required  for  a  nomi- 
nation for  city  office.  Without  such  a  limi- 
tation it  would  require  the  machinery  and  re- 
sources of  an  organized  political  party  to  get 
the  required  signatures.  In  other  words,  such 
a  requirement  would  destroy  the  possibility  of 
non-partisanship  in  advance  by  preventing  a 
fair  trial  of  it.  A  much  better  test  was  that 
provided  for  by  this  bill  in  its  original  form 
where  the  number  of  signatures  required  was 
placed  at  two  per  cent.  Even  this  without  the 
limitation  would  have  meant  12,000  signatures 
in  New  York  City.  In  a  city  in  which  10,000 
votes  are  cast  it  would  mean  two  hundred  sig- 
natures, a  sufficient  number  to  give  some  assur- 
ance of  stability  to  the  demand  for  the  candi- 
date's nomination,  and  yet  not  so  large  a  num- 
ber as  to  afford  undue  advantage  to  a  political 
party  organization. 

There  are  certain  obvious  objections  to 
reliance  on  any  nominating  system  that  is  based 
exclusively  on  petitions.  It  is  true  that  no  other 
plan  for  placing  names  on  the  ballot  in  the  first 


126  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

instance,  is,  all  things  considered,  so  satisfac- 
tory and  so  workable  as  this.  Yet  unless  the 
number  of  signers  required  is  so  low  as  to  con- 
stitute a  **free-for-air'  race  with  all  its 
attendant  evils,  the  process  will  always  be  an 
expensive  one,  and  will  always  be  open  to  ma- 
nipulation and  misuse  either  by  political  groups 
or  combinations  of  interests  which  have  even 
less  right  than  political  parties  to  engage  in 
such  operations.  There  is  always  a  temp- 
tation to  ^*pad"  petitions  with  fictitious  or 
unauthorized  names.  As  a  result  of  this  feeling 
of  dissatisfaction,  there  have  been  efforts  to 
minimize  the  importance  of  petitions.  It  is  one 
of  the  arguments  made  in  favor  of  preferential 
voting  over  the  second  election  system  that  it 
accomplishes  this  result. 

In  the  long  struggle  against  the  dominance 
and  interference  of  national  political  parties  in 
local  affairs  there  has  been  frequent  recourse 
to  the  creation  of  purely  city  political  organi- 
zations usually  formed  for  the  purpose  of  bring- 
ing about  some  particular  reform  or  of 
overthrowing  some  particular  local  partisan 
ring.  Usually  these  organizations  have  been 
the  culmination  of  some  **good  government" 
movement.  They  have  ordinarily  been  under- 
taken under  the  leadership  of  a  **good  govern- 


Eliminating  the  Parties  127 

ment  league''  or  a  ** citizens  committee"  or 
perhaps  a  group  formed  for  the  purpose  of 
effecting  franchise  reform  or  municipal  owner- 
ship or  obtaining  a  new  charter.  The  whole 
history  of  municipal  politics  in  America  is 
punctuated  with  these  municipal  uprisings.  It 
has  been  the  belief  of  many  men  active  in  mu- 
nicipal reform  that  if  the  interest  and  energy 
brought  together  temporarily  in  these  political 
organizations  could  be  permanently  held  to- 
gether in  a  local  party  organization,  much  might 
be  accomplished  in  the  direction  of  formulating 
a  consistent  and  effective  agency  for  the  carry- 
ing out  of  a  program  of  constructive  municipal 
reform. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  this  idea,  logical 
and  attractive  as  it  may  appear  at  first  glance, 
has  not  worked  out  well  where  attempts  have 
been  made  to  apply  it.  Frequently,  this  may 
have  been  due  to  a  lack  of  a  properly  qualified 
and  trained  leadership.  Often  the  driving 
power  in  a  reform  movement  comes  from  a 
group  of  radical  or  idealistic  leaders  who  have 
no  practical  experience  either  in  politics  or  any 
other  sort  of  organization.  If  the  organization 
is  entrusted  to  them,  it  is  apt  to  be  shipwrecked 
very  shortly.  Propagandists  and  demagogues 
are  all  too  ready  to  try  to  gain  the  upper  hand 


128  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

in  such  organizations  for  their  own  purposes 
with  the  inevitable  result  that  if  they  succeed 
its  original  character  is  soon  lost  and  it -becomes 
an  instrument  of  danger  to  the  municipality. 
If  so-called  ** practical  politicians"  gain  control 
of  it  or  are  allowed  to  participate  in  its  affairs 
to  any  extent,  the  organization  is  certain  to  be- 
come heir  to  all  the  evils  and  subject  to  all  the 
limitations  of  any  regular  political  party  oper- 
ating  in  a  municipality. 

The  history  of  the  Citizens  Union  in  New 
York  City,  one  of  the  most  successful  non-par- 
tisan organizations  that  ever  took  part  in  city 
politics,  demonstrates  the  truth  of  this  fact. 
The  Citizens  Union  was  organized  from  a  group 
of  good  government  clubs  in  1897  in  an  attempt 
to  wrest  the  control  of  New  York's  municipal 
government  from  Tammany  Hall.  It  ran  the 
late  Seth  Low  for  mayor  in  that  year  and  he 
polled  more  votes  than  the  Eepublican  candi- 
date. It  was  kept  in  existence  and  in  1901  it 
named  him  again  as  its  candidate  and,  with 
the  Eepublican  endorsement,  he  was  elected. 
During  these  years,  however,  the  organization 
had  attracted  to  itself  men  of  many  sorts  not 
all  of  whom  were  interested  in  improving  mu- 
nicipal conditions,  and  with  its  final  success 
came  the  same  sort  of  selfish  scramble  for  office 


Eliminating  the  Parties  129 

and  political  preferment  that  takes  place  in 
regular  political  parties  after  an  ordinary  par- 
tisan victory.  This  condition  continued  for 
several  years  when  those  most  interested  in  the 
welfare  of  the  organization  took  steps  to  alter 
its  character.  The  Union  then  ceased  to  nom- 
inate candidates  for  office  and  has  achieved  new 
efficiency  and  new  life  in  a  sphere  of  action  that 
consists  of  watching  legislation  both  in  the  city 
and  at  Albany,  passing  on  the  qualifications  of 
candidates  for  office  and  making  recommenda- 
tions in  regard  thereto  and  studying  and  making 
recommendations  in  regard  to  matters  of  public 
interest  and  municipal  policy  in  various  lines. 
But  aside  from  this  the  Union  still  continues 
to  exert  a  salutary  influence  on  local  politics  by 
frequently  acting  as  an  agency  to  bring  into 
existence  non-partisan  movements  that  do  re- 
sult in  the  creation  of  temporary  organizations 
for  carrying  on  political  municipal  campaigns. 
The  same  thing  that  happened  to  the  Citizens 
Union  in  New  York  has  happened  to  other  sim- 
ilar organizations  in  smaller  cities  the  country 
over.  As  a  result  the  movement  for  non-parti- 
san action  in  city  elections  has  rather  been  away 
from  all  forms  of  permanent  organization  ac- 
tivity and  there  have  been  incorporated  in  some 
charters  and  some  state  laws  provisions  requir- 


130  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

ing  that  the  candidate  shall  swear  that  he 
represents  or  has  received  support  from  neither 
a  national  nor  a  local  party  organization. 
Whether  such  a  strict  provision  is  fair  or  help- 
ful is  open  to  serious  question;  it  would  seem 
to  react  in  such  an  extreme  form  against  co- 
operative work  to  bring  about  better  conditions 
in  a  city  and  to  militate  against  any  consistent 
or  sustained  policy  of  reform. 

It  might  as  well  be  recognized  that  political 
groups,  whether  temporary  or  permanent,  will 
continue  to  exist  in  our  cities.  There  would 
seem,  therefore,  to  be  more  value  in  provisions 
that  will  eliminate  all  party  symbols  or  names 
on  ballots  for  municipal  officers,  and  enforce 
strict  non-partisan  nominations  and  elections. 
This  would  leave  the  door  open  to  voters 
leagues  to  pass  upon  the  qualifications  of  can- 
didates and  make  their  recommendations  to  the 
electorate  accordingly.  It  would  then  remain 
for  other  organizations  of  a  permanent  nature, 
such  as  city  clubs  and  the  like,  to  formulate  and 
make  public  their  ideas  on  questions  of  munici- 
pal policy.  On  the  basis  of  such  recommenda- 
tions and  such  unbiased  information,  it  might 
be  left  to  temporary  citizens'  movements  or- 
ganized for  the  purpose,  to  initiate  municipal 
campaigns     whenever    it     seemed     advisable 


Eliminating  the  Parties  131 

for  the  accomplishment  of  definite  objects. 
When  the  machinery  for  non-partisan  elec- 
tions has  been  set  up  there  still  remains  the 
problem  of  putting  it  in  operation  in  such  a  way 
as  to  obtain  the  fullest  and  best  results.  This 
is  where  the  human  element  comes  in.  Forms 
of  government  do  not  work  automatically.  The 
purposes  of  the  best  forms  and  the  best  laws 
may  be  nullified.  Statutes  may  be  circum- 
vented. Politicians  and  demagogues  have 
found  ways  to  manipulate  direct  primaries; 
they  can  find  ways  to  obtain  control  of  munici- 
pal commissions ;  they  can  misuse  the  initiative 
and  the  recall.  Likewise,  they  can  nullify  the 
good  results  that  should  be  obtained  from  any 
system  of  non-partisan  elections.  *'The  pros- 
pect of  saving  municipal  government  from  the 
disturbances  of  national  politics  is  remote  if 
reliance  upon  changes  in  the  form  of  election 
machinery  is  the  basis  of  our  dreams,"  wrote 
Prof.  C.  C.  Arbuthnot,  of  Western  Eeserve  Uni- 
versity, in  a  review  of  Mayor  Newton  D.  Bak- 
er's administration  in  Cleveland.  His  remedy 
is  cooperation  between  the  majority  group  and 
the  minority  group  in  the  work  of  solving  a 
city's  problems.  *^The  policy  of  isolating  the 
group  (the  minority)  in  comparative  ineffec- 
tiveness," he  wrote,  **  draws  the  partisan  line 


132  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

sharper,  turns  energy  that  should  be  construc- 
tive into  obstructive  tactics,  sours  the  milk  of 
common  interest  and  sacrifices  matters  of  local 
concern  to  an  overemphasized  national  distinc- 
tion. The  cities  will  never  begin  to  free 
themselves  from  this  incubus  unless  they  com- 
mence in  substance  as  well  as  form.''  * 

This  ^* substance,"  of  which  Prof.  Arbuthnot 
speaks,  is  the  municipal  spirit  of  cooperative 
endeavor  for  the  good  of  the  city  without  which 
any  permanent  progress  in  municipal  govern- 
ment is  impossible.  Our  hopes  for  the  solution 
of  the  problems  of  city  government  in  America 
must  eventually  be  realized  through  the  active 
operation  of  this  spirit  if  at  all.  We  know  that 
this  spirit  is  aroused  and  that  it  is  daily  grow- 
ing stronger.  This  is  the  force  back  of  the 
movement  for  short  ballot  commission  char- 
ters; it  is  the  force  that  is  rapidly  placing 
municipal  elections  on  a  non-partisan  basis, 
and  it  is  the  force  that  will  in  the  end  bring 
about  the  emancipation  of  our  cities.  If  it 
continues  to  grow  as  it  has  been  growing  within 
recent  years,  it  will  vitalize  forms  and  statutes 
with  effectiveness  and  make  municipal  home 
rule  an  accomplished  fact. 


♦  See  Prof.  Arbuthnot's  article  in  "National  Municipal 
Review,"  April,  1916. 


CHAPTER  VII 

MAKING  THE  BALLOT  EFFECTIVE 

Back  of  the  demand  for  the  direct  primary 
there  lay  the  conviction  that  the  voter  was 
placed  at  a  disadvantage  and  that  the  effective- 
ness of  his  vote  was  lessened  because  he  had 
no  part  in  picking  the  candidates  of  his  party 
and  because  he  was  allowed  only  the  privilege 
of  passing  on  the  choice  of  two  or  more  bosses 
or  partisan  political  machines.  Back  of  the  de- 
mand for  non-partisan  municipal  elections  there 
is  likewise  the  feeling  that,  so  far  as  the  solution 
of  municipal  problems  is  concerned,  votes  can 
not  be  truly  effective  that  are  cast  for  the  can- 
didates of  a  partisan  political  machine  whether 
chosen  by  direct  primary  or  otherwise,  so  long 
as  those  candidates  are  selected  not  primarily 
because  of  fitness  to  carry  on  the  administra- 
tion of  the  city,  but  because  they  are  the  ap- 
proved representatives  of  a  political  party 
whose  only  interest  in  municipal  affairs  is  at 
best  a  selfish  partisan  one. 

133 


134  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

When  this  point  has  been  reached  the  ques- 
tion still  remains  to  be  considered  whether  non- 
partisan primaries  and  elections  alone  can  give 
sufficient  assurance  that  every  ballot  cast  will 
most  effectively  indicate  the  intention  and  de- 
sire of  the  voter.  It  is  the  widespread  and 
growing  conviction  that  there  is  something 
more  than  mere  non-partisanship  needed,  if  the 
vote  is  in  the  fullest  and  most  effective  manner 
to  express  the  will  of  the  voter,  that  has  led  to 
the  movements  in  this  country  to  introduce 
either  the  preferential  ballot  or  a  plan  of  pro- 
portional representation  into  our  municipal 
electoral  system. 

The  preferential  system  of  voting  is  based  on 
the  use  of  a  ballot  which  allows  the  voter  to 
mark  his  preferences  in  such  a  way  that  if  the 
candidate  for  whom  he  indicates  his  first  pref- 
erence cannot  obtain  a  majority  of  the  votes 
cast,  his  vote  will  not  be  lost,  but  will  be  counted 
for  the  man  for  whom  he  has  expressed  a  sec- 
ond preference,  and  so  on.  The  effectiveness 
of  the  vote,  therefore,  is  not  dependent  on  the 
first  preference  indicated,  but  extends  to  the 
second  or  third  and  possibly  even  to  other 
choices. 

Preferential  voting  has  already  attained  a 
strong  hold  in  American  cities  and  is  in  sue- 


Making  the  Ballot  Effective         135 

cessful  operation  today  in  more  than  a  score  of 
cities.  Beginning  with  its  adoption,  for  the  first 
time  in  this  country,  as  a  part  of  the  new  charter 
of  the  City  of  Grand  Junction,  Colorado,  in 
1909,  the  new  plan  was  extended  to  Spokane  in 
the  year  following  and  later  to  Pueblo,  Colorado 
Springs,  Denver,  Duluth,  Portland,  Oregon,  and 
Cleveland,  Ohio.  At  the  same  time  preferential 
voting  provisions  were  introduced  in  slightly 
varying  forms  in  the  state  primary  laws  of 
Washington,  North  Dakota,  Idaho,  "Wisconsin 
and  Minnesota.* 

In  1914  the  commission  governed  cities  of  New 
Jersey  were  granted  by  state  law  the  privilege 
of  adopting  the  preferential  plan  for  their  mu- 
nicipal elections. 

The  ballot  used  under  the  preferential  sys- 
tem is  simple  and  easy  to  vote.  It  is  ordinarily 
of  the  Massachusetts  or  office  group  type,  but, 
as  used  in  Grand  Junction  and  as  generally 
adapted  elsewhere  in  this  country,  it  has  three 
columns  for  cross  marks  opposite  the  names  of 


♦The  Minnesota  Law  has  been  held  unconstitutional 
by  the  state  supreme  court,  which  held  that  the  prefer- 
ential plan  introduced  an  element  of  inequality  into  the 
constitutional  right  of  equal  suffrage.  "The  preferential 
system,"  said  the  court,  "greatly  diminishes  the  right  of 
an  elector  to  give  an  effective  vote  for  the  candidate  of 
his  choice" — thus  strangely  enough  making  the  very  point 
against  the  law  that  is  usually  put  forward  as  one  of  the 
strongest  arguments  in  its  favor. 


136  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

the  candidates  instead  of  a  single  voting  space. 
The  voter  indicates  his  first  choice  by  a  cross 
mark  in  the  first  column  and,  if  he  wishes,  may 
express  his  second  choice  by  a  vote  in  the  sec- 
ond column.  Other  preferences,  if  any,  are  in- 
dicated in  the  third  colunm.  In  some  cases  more 
than  three  choices  are  allowed,  but  it  is  felt  by 
many  advocates  of  the  system  that  the  indica- 
tion of  more  than  three  preferences  serves  to 
becloud  the  result  and  to  weaken  the  principle 
of  the  system.  As  a  result  of  this  feeling  some 
charters  strictly  limit  the  voter  to  a  single  vote 
for  each  candidate  in  the  third  column. 

The  method  of  counting  the  vote  is  rather 
more  difficult  and  it  is  here  that  the  operation 
of  the  preferential  principle  becomes  evident. 
If  when  the  votes  are  counted  for  first  choice 
it  is  found  that  any  one  candidate  has  obtained 
a  majority  of  the  first  choice  preferences,  which 
adding  up  the  cross-marks  in  the  first  colunm 
will  indicate,  he  is  declared  elected.  If  the 
count  of  the  first  column  votes  does  not  show  a 
majority  for  any  one  of  the  candidates,  the  sec- 
ond choice  votes  for  each  candidate  are  counted 
and  are  added  to  his  first  choice  totals.  Again 
the  totals  are  compared  to  ascertain  whether 
any  candidate  has  received  a  majority  on  first 
and  second  choice  votes.    If  he  has  he  is  elected. 


Making  the  Ballot  Effective         137 

If  there  is  still  no  majority  the  election  officers 
proceed  to  connt  up  the  indicated  preferences 
in  the  third  column.  After  all  preferences  are 
counted  the  highest  candidate  is  declared  elected 
even  if  he  has  not  an  actual  majority.  In  prac- 
tice it  has  been  found  that  a  majority  is  usually 
obtained  at  least  by  the  count  of  the  third  col- 
umn choices.  A  variation  from  this  method 
found  in  some  plans  provides  for  the  dropping 
of  the  low  man  after  each  column  is  counted 
and  the  distribution  of  his  votes  among  the 
other  candidates.  The  objection  to  this  method 
is  that  it  may  put  a  candidate  out  of  the  run- 
ning before  he  has  had  an  opportunity  to  profit 
by  his  second  or  third  choices. 

The  chief  value  of  this  system,  according  to 
its  advocates,  is  that  if  any  candidate  is  ap- 
proved by  a  majority  of  the  voters — not  neces- 
sarily as  the  first  choice  but  in  preference  to 
all  other  candidates — it  will  be  indicated  in  the 
vote.  In  other  words,  as  a  majority  vote  is  a 
surer  indication  of  the  preference  of  an  elec- 
torate than  a  minority  vote,  any  system  that 
assures  a  more  frequent  registering  of  a  major- 
ity vote  is  a  more  effective  method  of  voting 
than  one  which  cannot  be  depended  on  for  such 
a  result.  To  this  extent,  as  its  advocates  con- 
tend, the  preferential  plan  is  a  more  accurate 


138  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

measure  of  the  popular  will  than  the  ordinary 
single  choice  or  common  plurality  system.  It 
clearly  does  not  in  all  cases  assure  a  majority 
choice,  but,  so  it  is  argued,  no  other  plan  so 
accurately  expresses  the  actual  will  of  the  great- 
est number  of  voters  or  is  likely  to  go  so  far 
toward  the  much  desired  result  of  preventing 
an  organized  minority  from  defeating  the  will 
of  an  unorganized  majority. 

The  preferential  plan  as  proved  in  its  prac- 
tical application  is  not  a  difficult  one  to  intro- 
duce or  to  explain  to  the  electorate.  The  rules 
of  the  count  are  ordinarily  simple.  It  does  not 
entail  any  radical  change  in  our  existing  elec- 
toral machinery  and  it  can  be  put  in  operation 
with  little  or  no  difficulty,  especially  in  cities 
where  municipal  elections  are  held  separately, 
as  they  should  be.  It  does  away  entirely  with 
the  necessity  of  primaries  of  any  sort  and  thus 
assures  the  saving  of  much  money  and  effort 
that  is  wasted  in  primary  elections  or  in  double 
elections  under  the  system  of  eliminating  elec- 
tions described  in  the  last  chapter.  In  particu- 
lar is  it  fitted  to  be  the  instrument  of  putting 
into  operation  an  effective  system  of  non-parti- 
san elections.  There  are  or  should  be  no  names 
or  emblems  on  the  ballot  to  indicate  to  what 
party  a  candidate  belongs  or  whether  he  has 


Making  the  Ballot  Effective         139 

the  support  of  any  group  or  organization.  It 
is  as  easily  adjustable  for  use  in  electing  single 
officers  as  it  is  for  choosing  several  candidates 
from  the  same  district  or  from  the  city  at  large. 
There  is  nothing,  of  course,  to  prevent  political 
parties,  if  they  will,  endorsing  candidates  whose 
names  appear  on  the  ballot  and  urging  their 
election.  But  the  advantage  from  the  party 
point  of  view  of  such  action,  in  any  event  ex- 
tremely doubtful,  is  rendered  almost  negligible 
by  the  addition  of  the  opportunity  of  register- 
ing second  and  third  preferences.  A  plan  that 
has  so  many  attractive  features  from  the  point 
of  view  of  non-partisanship  in  municipal  poli- 
tics to  start  with,  and  that  will  certainly  be 
perfected  in  many  respects  as  developed  in 
practice,  is  especially  worthy  of  consideration 
by  those  who  are  seeking  to  apply  methods  or 
create  agencies  that  will  give  cities  the  most 
effective  control  of  their  own  affairs. 

It  is  evident  that  the  preferential  plan  of 
voting  could  not  be  made  to  work  with  satis- 
faction where  the  system  of  party  nominations 
and  elections  is  still  in  use.  Where  an  elector 
is  voting  for  a  party  candidate,  the  influence 
of  partisanship  is  likely  to  influence  his  personal 
choice  to  such  an  extent  that  he  will  be  ex- 
tremely unwilling  to  express  a  second  choice 


140  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

even  if  he  has  one,  in  such  a  way  as  to  affect 
the  result  of  the  election  adversely  to  his  party. 
But  once  a  non-partisan  system  of  elections  is 
adopted,  the  argument  for  a  preferential  sys- 
tem becomes  stronger.  Its  applicability  to  mu- 
nicipal elections,  therefore,  and  its  value  as  an 
instrument  of  municipal  home  rule,  become 
clear. 

It  is  contended  by  the  advocates  of  preferen- 
tial voting  that  it  not  only  more  accurately 
guages  the  real  popular  will  in  the  choice  of 
elective  public  officials,  but  that  it  also  provides 
an  electorate  with  a  weapon  to  strike  with 
greater  certainty  and  effectiveness  at  party 
bosses  and  partisan  machines.  These  factors  in 
themselves  would  naturally  arouse  support  for 
the  plan  from  those  who  are  struggling  to  bring 
about  the  emancipation  of  the  cities  from  the 
incubus  of  party  politics.  If  it  is  agreed  that 
adequate  municipal  home  rule  involves  among 
other  things  the  completest  possible  control  of 
the  electorate  over  its  elected  representatives  in 
the  government  of  the  city,  and  the  utmost 
responsiveness  on  their  part  to  the  will  of  the 
electorate,  then  preferential  voting  must  be  con- 
sidered an  important  agency  of  municipal  home 
rule. 

With  the  adoption  of  provisions  for  propor- 


Making  the  Ballot  Effective         141 

tional  representation  in  the  selection  of  mem- 
bers of  the  city  council  of  Ashtabula,  Ohio,  in 
1915,  the  first  step  toward  making  a  practical 
test  of  this  system  in  the  United  States  was 
made.  The  first  election  held  under  these  pro- 
visions took  place  on  November  2d  of  that  year, 
and  that  date  is  looked  upon  by  advocates  of 
proportional  representation  as  a  red  letter  day 
in  the  history  of  their  movement.  If  this  sys- 
tem could  be  made  to  work  as  satisfactorily 
everywhere  as  it  apparently  worked  in  Ashta- 
bula at  its  first  trial,  and  if  the  standard  of 
election  officers  could  be  elevated  sufficiently  to 
overcome  the  obvious  difficulties  of  the  count, 
then  a  system  which,  it  is  contended,  affords  the 
greatest  possible  freedom  to  the  elector  in  ex- 
pressing his  choice,  and  at  the  same  time  assures 
the  fullest  measure  of  effectiveness  in  that 
choice,  must  be  considered,  within  certain  limit- 
ations, as  an  agency  of  tremendous  importance 
in  bringing  about  municipal  reform  and  render- 
ing municipal  home  rule  effective. 

The  limitation  referred  to  is  that  proportional 
representation  can  be  made  to  work  only  where 
there  is  more  than  one  office  of  the  same  sort 
to  be  filled  at  the  same  time  as  in  the  election 
of  members  of  a  municipal  commission,  and  that 
it  is  most  effective  when  five  or  more  council- 


142  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

men  are  to  be  chosen  at  once.  It  is  not  argned 
that  the  proportional  system  can  be  made  to  ap- 
ply to  the  choice  of  single  executive  or  adminis- 
trative officers.  Only  in  cases  where  deliber- 
ative representative  assemblies  or  councils  are 
to  be  chosen  can  the  system  under  existing  con- 
ditions be  satisfactorily  applied  in  workable 
form*  to  our  municipal  elections.  Furthermore, 
the  system  will  not  apply  to  the  election  of 
councilmen  in  cities  where  the  old  ward  or  dis- 
trict plan  of  representation  has  been  retained 
unless  the  wards  have  as  many  as  five  repre- 
sentatives each.  Its  advocates  argue  particu- 
larly for  its  adoption  in  cities  which  have  the 
commission  manager  type  of  government,  ack- 
nowledging that  it  is  not  theoretically  so  well 
fitted  for  the  choice  of  a  commission,  the  mem- 
bers of  which  exercise  administrative  or  execu- 
tive powers.  For  those  cities  that  have  city 
governing  bodies  chosen  at  large,  the  adoption 
of  a  system  of  proportional  representation  will 
be  indicated  chiefly  by  an  alteration  in  the 
method  of  voting  and  counting  the  vote.  It  is 
much  more  likely,  therefore,  to  receive  serious 
consideration  in  such  cities  than  it  will  for  some 
time  to  come  be  considered  for  the  choice  of 
members  of  a  state  legislature  or  for  Congress, 
where  radical  constitutional  changes  would  be 


Making  the  Ballot  Effective         143 

necessary  and  the  entire  representative  plan 
of  our  state  and  national  governments  would  of 
necessity  have  to  be  reconstructed.* 

The  ballot  used  in  electing  representatives  on 
a  proportional,  or,  as  it  has  also  been  called,  a 
** unanimous  constituency,''  basis  is  similar  in 
most  cases  to  the  preferential  ballot  for  mem- 
bers of  a  city  council  already  described.  The 
names  may  be  placed  on  the  ballot  in  the  same 
way.  The  difference  comes  primarily  in  the 
count.  The  Ashtabula  plan  is  based  on  the  well 
known  Hare  System,  which  is  in  use  also  in 
Tasmania,  the  Union  of  South  Africa  and  Den- 
mark. Under  the  Hare  System  the  candidates 
are  nominated  by. petition.  In  voting  the  elector 
marks  the  figures  1,  2,  3  and  so  on  after  the 
names  according  to  his  preference.  The  ballots 
are  counted  first  in  the  precincts  according  ta 
first  choices.  They  are  then  sent  to  the  central 
board  of  elections,  where  the  first  choice  ballots 


*  The  Committee  on  Municipal  Program  of  the  Na- 
tional Municipal  League,  in  reporting  the  final  draft  of 
its  model  city  charter  on  the  commission  manager  plan 
(March,  1916),  suggested  as  an  alternative  but  did  not 
recomrnend  the  adoption  of  proportional  representation 
for  members  of  the  city  commission  chosen  at  large  in 
cities  under  one  hundred  thousand  in  population.  This 
suggestion  was  made,  it  was  said,  to  overcome  the  disad- 
vantage due  to  the  fact  that  elections  at  large  do  not 
insure  minority  representation  and  might  leave  a  city 
government  wholly  without  the  corrective  benefit  of  a 
vigilant  opposition. 


144  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

are  counted  for  each  candidate  and  then  the 
totals  of  second  and  third  choices  and  so  on. 
Instead  of  a  majority  of  votes  being  required 
to  "assure  election,  each  candidate,  under  the 
Hare  System,  must  obtain  a  number  equal  to 
the  quotient  of  the  whole  number  of  votes  cast 
divided  by  the  number  of  places  to  be  filled  in 
a  given  xmit  of  representation.  If  any  candi- 
date is  found  on  the  count  to  have  more  than 
enough  votes  to  elect  him,  then  his  surplus  votes 
are  distributed  among  other  candidates  accord- 
ing to  the  indicated  preference  on  the  ballots.* 
Another  system  of  proportional  representa- 
tion is  that  known  as  the  List  System,  which  in 
slightly  dissimilar  forms  is  in  use  in  Belgium, 
Switzerland  and  some  other  countries  of  Con- 
tinental Europe  and  in  Japan.  The  List  System 
is  simpler  to  count  and,  if  anything,  simpler  to 
vote,  although  there  is  not  possible  under  it  so 
complete  an  expression  of  individual  prefer- 
ences as  there  is  under  the  Hare  System.  The 
names  are  placed  on  the  ballot  by  petition  in 
lists.  There  may  be  in  each  list  as  many  names 
as  there  are  seats  to  be  filled  from  that  par- 
ticular representative  district.  Ordinarily  it  is 
presumed  that  the  names  on  each  list  are  those 
of  candidates  who  believe  the  same  way  in  re- 


*For  method  of  counting  vote,  see  Appendix  F. 


Making  the  Ballot  Effective         145 

gard  to  political  problems,  and  to  that  extent 
they  definitely  stand  forth  as  the  candidates  of 
a  particular  group  in  the  electorate.  But  no 
party  designations  or  emblems  are  allowed. 
The  ballot  is  voted  by  the  elector  making  a  cross 
mark  opposite  one  name  on  one  list.  This  single 
vote  has  a  double  meaning ;  it  indicates  an  indi- 
vidual preference  for  the  name  of  the  candidate 
voted  for,  thus  increasing  his  personal  total, 
and  also  goes  to  determine  what  proportion  of 
the  whole  number  of  candidates  elected  are  to 
be  chosen  from  this  same  list. 

How  far  proportional  representation  can  be 
made  to  work  with  success  in  American  cities  is 
problematical.  It  is. not  at  all  difficult  to  teach 
a  voter  how  to  vote  such  a  ballot.  The  difficulty 
lies  in  making  it  perfectly  clear  to  him  what  his 
vote  is  going  to  count  for  after  the  counting 
process  is  concluded.  The  argument  for  pro- 
portional representation  is  that  it  makes  every 
vote  *  *  effective. ' '  But  under  the  most  favorable 
circumstances  there  is  a  very  considerable  vote, 
in  our  cities  especially,  that  must  be  called  unin- 
telligent. If  any  new  method  introduces  an 
element  of  uncertainty  in  the  minds  of  voters 
as  to  just  what  they  are  accomplishing  by  their 
votes  so  that  the  unintelligent  minority  does  not 
register  its  vote  correctly,  or  possibly  is  de- 


146  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

terred  from  voting  at  all,  the  effectiveness  of 
the  result  is  so  much  lessened.  As  one  doubter 
expressed  it,  after  the  plan  had  been  explained 
to  him,  * '  I  prefer  to  shoot  at  a  target  that  I  can 
see.  If  I  make  a  bull's-eye,  I  know  it,  and  if  I 
hit  outside  the  ring  I  know  that  too — ^but  I 
always  know  where  my  bullet  goes,  even  if  it 
doesn't  count."  This  may  seem  illogical  from 
the  point  of  view  of  the  advocate  of  propor- 
tional representation,  but  it  was  nevertheless 
not  the  opinion  of  an  unintelligent  voter,  but 
of  an  intelligent  business  man.  Advocates  of 
proportional  representation  will  answer  all 
questions  as  to  the  ease  with  which  the  ballot 
is  voted  and  counted  by  pointing  to  the  way  it 
works  where  the  system  is  in  operation — and 
presumably  they  mean  the  ease  with  which  the 
ballot  is  voted  intelligently,  not  merely  the  ease 
with  which  the  apparent  intention  of  the  voter 
is  disclosed  thereon.  Yet  at  a  time  when  we  are 
seeking  to  simplify  the  process  of  voting  as 
much  as  possible  and  focussing  the  attention 
of  the  voter  on  a  clearly  defined  result,  this 
apparent  defect  or  indefiniteness  in  the  system 
and  the  possible  effect  it  may  have  on  the  vote, 
must  be  taken  into  account. 

There  is  also  to  be  taken  seriously  into  ac- 
count the  difficulty  or  complexity  of  the  count, 


Making  the  Ballot  Effective         147 

in  which  many  find  their  chief  objection  to  the 
system.  The  choice  of  highly  intelligent  elec- 
tion officers  selected  after  examination  on  a 
merit  basis  would  tend  to  eliminate  this  objec- 
tion to  a  considerable  extent.  But  with  the 
present  low  order  of  intelligence  of  the  aver- 
age election  officer  chosen  on  a  partisan  or  bi- 
partisan plan  from  lists  of  party  workers  who 
have  to  be  *Haken  care  of,''  it  might  prove  a 
very  serious  matter  to  depend  on  their  calcula- 
tion of  the  result  of  a  vote  cast  under  either  one 
of  these  proportional  systems.* 

Furthermore,  proportional  representation 
works  best  when  there  are  five  or  more  members 
to  be  chosen  at  once  from  a  single  constituency. 
This,  it  would  seem,  takes  us  in  a  directly  oppo- 
site direction  from  that  in  which  the  short  bal- 
lot reform  has  been  carrying  us.  Thus  *in  the 
application  of  the  short  ballot  to  commission 
governed  cities,  whether  under  the  regular  com- 
mission plan  or  the  commission  manager  plan, 
the  tendency  has  been  to  have,  as  far  as  pos- 
sible, only  one  or  two  commissioners  chosen 
each  year.    Proportional  representation  would 


*  Advocates  of  the  plan  meet  this  criticism  by  pointing  out 
that  only  the  preliminary  count  is  made  by  district  election 
boards  and  that  the  more  difficult  work  of  computing  the 
result  must  be  done  by  a  central  board  with  the  returns  from 
the  whole  constituency  in  its  hands.  It  is  only  here,  so  it  is 
maintained,  that  experts  would  be  required. 


148  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

not  work  effectively  unless  three  or  preferably 
five  were  chosen  at  one  and  the  same  time. 

It  is  an  open  question,  too,  whether  propor- 
tional representation  will  not  in  the  long  run 
rather  play  into  the  hands  of  local  political  par- 
ties or  machines,  rather  than  eliminate  or  mini- 
mize their  control  and  influence.  Certainly  the 
List  System  and  to  a  lesser  extent,  perhaps,  the 
Hare  System,  tend  to  emphasize  the  importance 
of  groups  of  men  who  think  alike,  or  who  are 
convinced  that  their  interests  are  similar,  work- 
ing together  to  accomplish  a  definite  result  in 
government.  Indeed  this  is  held  to  be  one  of 
the  strong  arguments  for  proportional  repre- 
sentation. Ballots  are  cast  for  an  idea  rather 
than  for  an  individual.  How  long  will  the  ad- 
vocates of  an  idea,  or  set  of  ideas,  fail  to  see,  or 
refrain  from  using,  the  advantage  that  comes 
with  something  closely  resembling  party  organ- 
ization? To  this  extent  it  appears  to  minimize 
the  emphasis  on  the  individual  qualifications  of 
candidates  which  is  considered  so  important  an 
essential  to  real  non-partisanship  in  municipal 
elections.* 


*It  is  obvious  that  there  is  a  serious  objection  to  the  ap- 
plication of  the  recall  to  individual  officers  chosen  under  a 
system  of  proportional  representation.  The  theory  of  such 
a  choice  is  that  members  thus  elected  do  not  represent  the 
whole  electorate,  but  merely  a  minority  group  or  quota.  The 
recall  of  a  single  member,  or  of  any  number  less  than  the 


Making  the  Ballot  Effective         149 

But  a  system  that  works  well  in  so  many  parts 
of  the  globe  must  have  some  strong  arguments 
in  its  favor  and  certainly  should  not  be  lightly 
passed  over  in  this  country,  where  we  are  begin- 
ning to  appreciate  more  and  more  in  these  latter 
years  the  value  of  the  best  experience  of  the 
rest  of  ithe  world.  Our  two-party  system  would 
doubtless  serve  as  a  check  to  its  general  use  in 
this  country,  particularly  in  large  political 
units,  until  some  sort  of  a  political  revo- 
lution takes  place.  But  even  if  official  party 
action  is  eliminated  from  our  cities  we  must  still 
recognize  the  fact  that  it  is  both  natural  and 
advisable  that  men  continue  to  act  together  in 
concert  to  bring  about  the  adoption  of  certain 
policies  and  in  the  choice  of  representatives 
who  will  carry  them  out.  Therefore,  assuming 
that  we  are  to  dispense  with  parties  altogether 
in  our  municipal  elections,  it  may  fairly  be 
asked,  is  not  a  system  that  will  facilitate  the 
working  together  of  groups  of  men  who  think 
the  same  way  in  regard  to  municipal  problems, 


entire  council,  would  therefore  be  destructive  to  this  princi- 
ple. The  recall  provisions  under  such  circumstances  could 
only  be  logically  applied  to  the  whole  council  at  once.  In 
this  way  individual  councilmen  who  could  not  retain  the  sup- 
port of  the  necessary  quota  might  be  eliminated.  Propor- 
tional representation  advocates,  however,  argue  that  once 
the  principle  of  their  plan  is  thoroughly  understood,  and  ac- 
cepted in  spirit  as  well  as  in  fact  there  will  be  very  little 
necessity  or  demand  for  the 'application  of  the  recall. 


150  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

perhaps  a  safer  step  than  the  adoption  of  some 
plan  in  which  the  natural  tendency  toward 
grouping  together  of  electors  would  be  not  only- 
disregarded,  but  would  be  rendered  difficult! 
The  advocates  of  proportional  representation 
frankly  contend  that  it  would  and  urge  its 
adoption  for  our  cities  on  that  ground. 

It  seems  clear  that  every  city  should  have  the 
power  to  decide  for  itself  the  method  it  wishes 
to  use  in  choosing  its  municipal  officers.  Such 
a  right  ought  to  be  a  fundamental  of  municipal 
home  rule,  for  the  city  electorate  is  'the  main- 
spring of  municipal  powers.  This  does  not 
mean  that  a  city  should  not  be  compelled  to  con- 
form to  the  state  election  laws  when  it  comes 
to  the  choice  of  other  than  municipal  officers. 
In  like  manner  all  provisions  of  the  state 
law  applying  to  elections,  the  corrupt  practices 
act,  qualifications  for  voting,  and  provisions 
safeguarding  the  honesty  and  purity  of  elec- 
tions should  remain  in  force.  But  there  is  no 
reason  why,  with  these  exceptions  and  within 
these  limitations,  a  city  should  not  be  free  to 
adopt  and  put  into  operation  any  form  of  non- 
partisan primaries  and  elections,  preferential 
ballots  or  a  system  of  proportional  representa- 
tion.   And  this  freedom  of  choice   should  be 


Making  the  Ballot  Effective         151 

accorded  to  every  city  in  the  land,  not  by  special 
grant,  bnt  by  the  constitution  and  general  laws 
of  the  state  as  a  fair  and  jnst  measure  of  home 
rule. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

INITIATIVE,  REFERENDUM   AND   RECALL 

Few  proposed  changes  in  our  system  of 
government  put  forth  during  the  past  few  years 
have  been  defended  on  the  one  hand  and 
opposed  on  the  other  with  more  violence  and 
acrimony  than  the  three  devices  known  as  the 
initiative,  referendum  and  the  recall.  It  is 
because  they  contemplate  franldy  not  a  mere 
change  in  the  forni  of  government  but  a  strik- 
ing modification  in  one  of  the  underlying 
principles  on  which  our  government  is  based, 
that  they  have  become  the  storm  centre  of  the 
progressive  movement  in  government.  The  ad- 
vocates of  these  reforms  believe  that  in  them 
lies  the  necessary  corrective  or  cure  for  the  ills 
which  have  developed  in  our  representative  sys- 
tem. In  their  behalf  it  is  urged  that  through 
them  a  greater  measure  of  responsiveness  to 
the  demands  of  the  people  is  likely  to  be 
obtained  and  the  popular  will  is  more  directly 
and  correctly  ascertained.    Against  them  it  is 

153 


Initiative^  Referendum  and  Recall  153 

urged  that  their  acceptance  means  an  ultimate 
recourse  to  direct  legislation  and  with  it  the 
eventual  undermining  of  the  established  system 
of  representative  government.  Advocacy  of 
them  is  made  by  many  liberals  a  test  of  a 
public  man's  liberality  or  progressiveness.  By 
conservatives  the  man  who  advocates  them  is 
apt  to  be  set  down  as  an  impractical  idealist 
or  a  dangerous  radical.  Neither  of  these  views 
is  the  true  one. 

Eeferendums  on  franchises,  bond  issues  and 
constitutional  amendments  are  common  enough 
and  no  one  considers  them  especially  danger- 
ous. Therefore,  when  a  man  attacks  the 
referendum  today  he  must  specify  what  sort  of 
a  referendum  he  means.  Usually  he  will  admit 
— especially  if  he  couples  it  with  a  reference 
to  the  initiative  or  the  recall — that  he  means  a 
referendum  on  legislation.  There  are  many 
radicals  today  who  do  not  insist  on  the  uncom- 
promising acceptance  of  all  three  of  these 
devices  as  part  of  an  orthodox  civic  creed.  So 
also  there  are  many  fairly  conservative  individ- 
uals who  have  come  to  look  upon  them  without 
great  fear  and  trembling.  All  three  do  not 
necessarily  stand  or  fall  together.  Many  cities 
have  incorporated  provisions  for  one  or  two 
of  them  in  their  charters  and  rejected  the  third. 


154  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

One  of  the  arguments  made  against  them,  in- 
deed, in  the  states  and  cities  where  they  have 
been  tried  is  that  they  are  neither  effective  nor 
dangerous,  but  are  merely  bothersome  clap- 
trap. 

Nevertheless,  the  man  who  denies  that  any 
serious  deficiences  have  developed  in  our 
representative  system  of  government  can 
usually  be  counted  on  to  oppose  these  *  inno- 
vations" with  all  his  might  and  main.  But  the 
men  who  take  such  a  standpat  attitude  as  that 
are  daily  growing  fewer.  Most  men  familiar 
with  the  actual  workings  of  our  government, 
whether  they  be  practical  politicians  or  theor- 
ists, are  ready  to  acknowledge  that  there  are 
in  practice  certain  very  obvious  defects  in  our 
representative  system.  The  most  patent  diffi- 
culty is  that  the  so-called  representative  so  very 
frequently  does  not  represent  his  constituency. 
There  is  small  wonder  in  that,  for  he  has  too 
often  been  chosen  originally  without  the  least 
regard  for  or  consideration  of  the  wishes  of  his 
constituents.  He*  may  represent  a  boss  or  a 
political  machine.  He  may  represent  an  '^in- 
terest" or  group  of  '* interests,"  either  capi- 
talistic or  labor.  But  he  does  not  really  repre- 
sent the  views  of  those  who  elected  him.  Under 
such  circumstances  the  demand  for  a  radical 


Initiative,  Referendum  and  Recall    155 

change  seems  natural  and  reasonable.  Some 
improvement  came  with  the  wide  adoption  of  the 
direct  primary.  That  solved  the  difficulty  in 
part,  but  in  part  only. 

The  initiative,  referendum  and  recall  are  all 
devised  with  the  idea  of  completing  the  refor- 
mation. But  instead  of  broadening  the  basis  of 
representation  and  making  it  possible,  or  at 
least  easier,  to  get  representatives  who  will 
really  represent,  these  proposals  suggest  an 
entirely  new  line  of  approach  to  the  solution  of 
the  problem.  They  seek  to  limit  the  scope  of 
his  representative  capacity — the  recall  by  hold- 
ing over  his  official  head  a  sword  that  threatens 
to  cut  short  his  political  life  at  any  time  that 
a  certain  varying  percentage  of  his  constituents 
think  they  would  rather  have  someone  else  in 
his  office ;  the  initiative  and  referendum  by  con- 
ferring on  his  constituents  in  various  forms  and 
degrees  a  sort  of  concurrent  power  of  legisla- 
tion, including  the  power  of  veto,  and  the 
authority  to  ignore  him  entirely  by  initiating 
legislation  directly.  Those  who  oppose  these 
proposals  complain  that  all  this  seriously 
threatens  a  public  officer's  effectiveness  as  an 
executive  or  as  a  law-maker,  that  it  even  tempts 
him  to  be  careless  about  his  legislative  or  execu- 
tive duties,  and  to  shirk  his  responsibilities. 


156  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

They  argue  that  unless  he  is  a  fearless  person, 
a  public  officer's  acts  under  such  conditions  are 
more  apt  to  be  inspired  by  a  fear  of  conse- 
quences than  by  a  high  sense  of  obligation  to 
determine  every  matter  that  he  is  compelled  to 
decide  on  a  basis  of  reason  and  judgment  as  to 
whether  or  not  it  is  for  the  best  interests,  not 
of  his  own  constituency  alone,  but  of  the  state 
or  city  which  he  has  been  elected  to  serve.  To 
all  of  which  the  advocates  of  the  initiative,  ref- 
erendum and  recall  reply  that  only  the  weak 
man  who  should  never  have  been  chosen  to  a 
position  of  responsibility  or  authority  in  the 
first  place,  will  be  affected  or  handicapped  in 
the  manner  complained  of,  and  that  so  far  as  its 
affecting  his  character  as  a  representative  is 
concerned,  that  is  wholly  uncertain  and  unsatis- 
factory under  present  conditions.  They  are 
trying  to  improve  conditions  by  empowering 
his  constituents  to  assume  the  authority  dele- 
gated to  him,  Vhich  he  fails  to  exercise. 

It  is  important  in  considering  the  arguments 
for  and  against  these  proposals  for  getting 
more  direct  results  in  government,  to  bear  in 
mind  that  there  is  little  difference  of  opinion 
as  to  what  the  extensive  exercise  of  powers 
under  such  proposals,  if  written  into  the  law, 
would  mean.     Here  their  possible  application 


Initiative,  Referendum  and  Recall    157 

to  a  limited  field — that  of  municipal  govern- 
ment, and  their  contribution  to  a  solution  of  the 
home  rule  problem — are  alone  to  be  considered. 
With  the  application  of  these  remedies  to  the 
elective  state  officers,  whether  they  be  executive 
or  judicial,  we  shall  not  concern  ourselves. 

There  are  many  people  who  disbelieve  in  the 
recall  in  its  general  application  who  are  not 
particularly  opposed  to  its  use  in  cities.  In 
cities  many  of  the  objections  that  are  raised  to 
its  use  in  connection  with  legislators  or  state 
officers  or  judges  disappear.  It  is  in  the  first 
place,  more  easy  to  put  into  operation  in  cities 
than  it  is  in  larger  political  divisions.  It  is 
usually  much  simpler  to  present  clearly  and 
satisfactorily  the  issues  involved  in  connection 
with  the  test  of  a  municipal  officer's  fitness  in 
a  city.  The  newspapers  and  the  greater  acces- 
sibility of  public  meetings  contribute  to  that 
result.  Geographical  and  even  political  con- 
siderations are  apt  to  play  a  much  less  import- 
ant part  in  the  result.  The  administrative 
machinery  will  be  put  to  the  minimum  of  strain, 
by  reason  of  a  change  or  the  attempt  to  bring 
about  a  change.  Moreover,  the  personality  or 
the  character  and  fitness  of  a  candidate,  partic- 
ularly in  medium  sized  cities,  can  be  more  cor- 
rectly weighed,  and  the  reasons  for  his  official 


158  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

acts  more  fairly  judged  than  would  be  possible 
in  the  case  of  a  man  elected  to  a  state  office. 

Partisan  political  reasons,  all  believers  in  the 
recall  hold,  should  seldom,  if  ever,  be  made  the 
basis  for  a  recall.  Such  reasons  are  less  potent 
in  cities  today  than  in  any  other  political  di- 
visions. The  real  test  of  a  public  official  should 
be  his  acts  as  an  executive  or  a  legislative  of- 
ficer. 

The  recall  cannot  properly  be  applied,  and 
should  not  be  applied,  to  an  official  who  is  not 
fully  responsible  for  his  acts.  The  essential 
idea  behind  the  recall  is  the  attempt  to  enforce 
responsibility.  Again  if  a  city  does  not  possess 
a  considerable  measure  of  home  rule,  it  must 
necessarily  limit  the  scope  of  the  recall,  for  a 
public  official  naturally  should  not  be  held  re- 
sponsible for  things  he  is  compelled  to  do  by  an 
outside  authority,  or  for  failure  to  accomplish 
things  which  he  has  not  the  authority  to  do. 
For  these  same  reasons  also  the  recall  can  be 
applied  more  properly  and  more  justly  in  a 
short  ballot  city,  such  as  those  under  commis- 
sion government,  where  the  responsibility  is 
easily  fixed  and  public  attention  is  more  clearly 
f ocussed  on  a  public  official.  It  is  for  these  rea- 
sons that  many  men  who  hesitate  to  apply  the 
recall  generally  are  willing  to  agree  that  in  the 


Initiative,  Referendum  and  Recall    159 

case  of  a  nmnicipality  possessing  a  large  degree 
of  home  rule  and  choosing  its  officers  on  a  short 
ballot,  the  recall  may  be  both  helpful  and  ef- 
ficacious in  keeping  up  a  high  standard  of 
efficiency  and  forcing  home  the  principle  of 
responsibility. 

There  are  several  considerations  in  connec- 
tion with  the  recall,  if  it  is  to  be  used,  which 
should  be  emphasized,  however.  The  first  of 
these  is  that  it  must  evidently  be  surrounded 
by  proper  safeguards  to  prevent  its  misuse  or 
abuse.  It  should  never  be  possible  to  apply  the 
recall  so  easily  that  a  defeated  minority  could 
take  advantage  of  it  to  force  a  second  election. 
The  presentation  of  a  recall  petition  does  not 
have  to  be  based  on  proved  charges.  Hence,  it 
clearly  should  not  be  so  easy  to  invoke  that  a 
small  group  with  a  grievance,  or  under  the  sting 
of  defeat,  can  force  a  second  election  on 
trumped-up  or  baseless  charges. 

In  practice,  it  has  been  found  that  even 
where  the  restrictions  against  the  recall  are 
slight,  it  is  very  infrequently  invoked  for  merely 
partisan  reasons.  Any  man  in  public  office, 
however,  is  apt  to  arouse  a  certain  degree  of 
adverse  criticism  no  matter  how  able  or  high- 
minded  he  may  be.  It  is  impossible  to  suit 
everyone.     In  every  community  there  will  be 


160  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

found  habitual  fault-finders  who  are  always 
looking  for  things  to  criticize  in  any  public  of- 
ficial; and  the  newspapers  are  only  too  willing 
to  give  publicity  to  such  criticism.  It  is  usually 
more  difficult  to  arouse  an  electorate,  even  one 
inclined  to  be  friendly,  to  defend  a  man  after 
he  is  in  office  than  it  was  to  bring  about  his 
election  in  the  first  place.  A  political  campaign 
means  the  active,  aggressive  support  of  a  can- 
didate who  is  seeking  office.  The  support  of  a 
public  official  already  in  office  is  likely  to  be 
much  more  passive  and  matter-of-fact  in 
its  nature.  It  is  harder  to  arouse  men  to  pre- 
vent a  man's  being  ousted  from  office  than  it 
is  to  put  him  into  office  originally.  The  recall 
is  an  emergency  weapon.  It  should  be  possible 
to  use  it,  therefore,  only  in  cases  of  emergency. 
This  means  that  the  proportion  of  signers  to  a 
recall  provision  should  be  large  enough  to  make 
it  evident  that  there  is  a  proper  demand  behind 
the  movement  for  a  change.  The  proportion  of 
the  voters  required  to  sign  a  recall  petition 
should  be  based  on  the  vote  originally  cast  in 
the  political  division  at  the  time  of  the  public 
official's  election.  A  conservative  judgment  as 
to  the  number  that  should  be  required,  would 
place  it  somewhere  between  twenty-five  and 
thirty-five  per  cent,  of  the  vote  cast  at  the  origi- 


Initiative,  Referendum  and  Recall    161 

nal  election.*  With  such  a  percentage  required 
before  the  recall  can  be  invoked,  it  is  unlikely 
that  it  would  ever  be  misused.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  would  be  perfectly  easy  in  case  of  real 
emergency,  when  alone  can  the  recall  be  prop- 
erly applied,  to  obtain  the  necessary  signatures 
for  its  submission. 

Another  point  must  be  considered.  It  should 
never  be  possible  to  invoke  the  recall  until  after 
the  official  who  may  be  subject  to  it,  has  had  a 
fair  opportunity  to  prove  his  worth  in  office. 
Therefore,  it  would  seem  advisable  that  an  of- 
ficer should  have  been  in  office  at  least  a  year 
before  he  may  be  recalled.  In  the  case  of  long 
term  officers,  it  has  frequently  been  suggested 
that  they  be  subject  to  the  recall  mid- way  in 
their  terms,  if  there  is  reason  for  it.  This  plan 
is  in  force  in  Boston.  Some  local  officers  are 
chosen  for  only  a  year.  It  isn't  worth  the  time 
or  trouble  to  apply  the  recall  to  them. 

As  has  been  suggested,  the  recall  is  likely  to 
work  most  satisfactorily  in  commission-gov- 
erned cities  for  there  circumstances  permit  a 
squarer  joining  of  issues  and  a  greater  concen- 


*  Some  required  percentages  are  much  lower  than  this.  The 
fact  that  the  recall  has  not  been  misused  has  apparently  per- 
suaded many  that  a  low  percentage  requirement  is  perfectly 
safe.  The  model  charter  of  the  National  Municipal  League, 
for  instance,  places  it  at  only  fifteen  per  cent.  The  Des 
Moines  charter  provisions  require  twenty-five  per  cent. 


162  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

tration  of  interest  on  the  contest.  In  these 
cities,  too,  the  general  acceptance  of  the  non- 
partisan ballot  tends  to  free  the  issue  from  par- 
tisanship which  might  otherwise  confuse  it. 
Moreover,  the  long  terms  of  most  municipal 
commissioners  offer  a  reasonable  justification 
for  its  application.  Here  also  the  application 
should  be  made  only  to  the  officers  exercising 
executive  or  legislative  authority.  There  can 
be  no  argument  for  applying  the  recall  to  purely 
administrative  officers,  who  should  never  be 
elected  anyhow.  The  recall  cannot  logically  be 
applied  to  an  appointive  officer,  and  this  would 
include  city  managers.*  There  are  good  rea- 
sons, too,  why  the  recall  should  not  be  applied 
to  judicial  officers  and  as  that  question  is  not 
essentially  a  municipal  one,  even  in  the  case  of 
municipal  judges,  it  will  not  be  discussed  here. 
Finally,  it  should  be  pointed  out  that  radical 
as  the  recall  provision  is,  and  great  as  the  fear 
is  in  conservative  minds  that  its  general  adop- 
tion would  prove  disastrous,  it  is  not  likely  to 
be  misused  or  overused  to  any  extent  in  this 
country.!  There  seems  to  be  an  inherent  belief 
in  the  American  people  that  efficient  govern- 


*The  Dayton  charter.     See  chapter  "The  City  Manager." 
t  The  recall  is  in  operation  in  upward  of  three  hundred 
cities;  only  about  ten  per  cent,  have  ever  used  it. 


Initiative,  Referendum  and  Recall    163 

ment  requires  a  large  degree  of  stability.  That 
is  the  reason  why  of  late  we  have  been  grad- 
ually lengthening  the  terms  of  office  of  onr 
elective  officials.  In  practice  it  has  been  proved 
that  there  is  very  infrequent  recourse  to  the 
recall  where  it  is  written  into  the  statute  books 
or  into  city  charters.  A  large  proportion  of 
the  cities  now  under  the  conmiission  form  of 
government  have  recall  provisions  in  their  char- 
ters. Many  cities  not  under  the  commission 
form  of  government  have  the  recall.  The  num- 
ber of  instances,  however,  where  it  has  been 
used  is  remarkably  small.  From  this  we  may 
conclude  that  .the  recall  is  more  efficacious  as 
a  preventive  than  as  a  punitive  measure. 

The  initiative  and  the  referendum  constitute 
frankly  a  divergence  from  the  representative 
form  of  government.  That  probably  is  the  most 
plausible,  if  not  the  most  forcible  argument 
that  can  be  brought  against  their  general  adop- 
tion. To  many  it  will  be  all  the  argument  that 
is  needed.  They  are  the  instruments  of  direct 
legislation.  They  would  apply  the  old  practice 
of  the  New  England  town  meeting,  regulated 
and  limited  by  the  restrictions  of  our  modern 
elections  laws,  to  all  sorts  of  political  divisions 
from  wards  or  school  districts  up  to  states. 
Just  as  the  old  New  England  town  meeting 


164  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

provided  a  perfectly  adequate  -and  responsible 
form  of  government  for  small  New  England 
communities,  so  the  initiative  and  the  referen- 
dum are  more  easily  and  naturally  adjusted  to 
municipalities  than  to  political  divisions  cov- 
ering larger  geographical  areas. 

With  the  principle  involved  in  the  referen- 
dum, we  have,  of  course,  become  quite  familiar 
in  America  through  actual  experience.  It  has 
been  the  prevailing  custom  to  use  the  referen- 
dum in  connection  with  the  submission  of  a  new 
state  constitution  or  with  amendments  to  such 
a  constitution.  The  reasoning  which  made  this 
practice  general  was  natural.  The  constitution, 
with  its  grant  of  powers  to  executive  and  legis- 
latures and  courts,  came  from  the  people.  It 
was  their  creation.  For  practical  purposes  they 
delegated  their  authority  to  groups  of  repre- 
sentatives chosen  to  frame  this  instrument  of 
government.  It  was  natural  and  logical  that 
the  matter  should  be  referred  back  to  them  for 
approval;  for  the  same  reason  constitutional 
amendments  have  generally  been  referred. 
This  practice  has  been  so  generally  accepted 
that  we  scarcely  think  of  it  as  involving  in  any 
way  the  principle  of  the  referendum.  There 
are  other  respects  in  which  the  referendum  has 
been  quite  commonly  used.    One  of  these  is  in 


Initiative,  Referendum  and  Recall    165 

connection  with  large  bond  issues.  Another  use 
of  the  referendum,  which  has  become  familiar, 
is  in  connection  with  the  grant  of  franchises. 
Still  another  is  the  submission  of  local  option 
propositions  in  regard  to  liquor  traffic. 

None  of  these  forms  of  the  referendum,  how- 
ever, it  will  be  readily  seen  upon  analysis,  re- 
sults in  an  abdication  in  any  essential  of  the 
representative  principle  of  government.  We 
are  dealing  here  with  the  referendum  in  its 
application  to  municipalities.  Like  the  recall  it 
would  appear  to  be  more  readily  applicable  to 
municipalities  than  to  larger  areas.  The  idea 
of  submitting  the  constitution  of  a  city,  which 
we  are  accustomed  to  call  its  charter,  to  the 
people,  does  not  cause  any  shock  to  the  con- 
servative sensibilities  of  those  who  balk  at  the 
use  of  the  referendum;  nor  are  we  apt  to  feel 
that  the  exercise  of  an  electorate 's  right  of  veto 
or  approval  in  matters  involving  bond  issues 
and  franchises,  is  at  all  obnoxious  to  the  rep- 
resentative idea.  In  both  these  latter  proposi- 
tions the  issue  involved  is  so  great  and  the 
decision  once  made  so  final  that  it  cannot  be 
considered  in  the  light  of  ordinary  legislation, 
which  might  be  repealed  by  a  succeeding  legis- 
lative body.  The  electorate  in  acting  directly 
on  these  matters  is  acting  not  for  itself  alone, 


166  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

not  on  a  matter  which  involves  its  own  common 
pocketbook,  but  often  on  a  matter  which  loads 
a  burden  of  debt  on  the  community  which  must 
be  paid  by  its  children  and  grandchildren.  This 
is  a  legitimate  and  logical  application  of  the 
idea  of  direct  action  in  which  few  find  any  at- 
tack on  the  representative  principles.  The  leg- 
islative referendum  is  a  different  matter.  It 
must  -be  remembered,  however,  that  both  the 
initiative  and  the  referendum  differ  from 
the  recall  in  being  purely  legislative  rem- 
edies. 

The  legislative  referendum  as  usually  applied 
to  city  ordinances  is  a  sort  of  suspensive  veto 
or  approval  exercised  directly  by  the  voters  on 
the  acts  of  their  representatives.  The  law-mak- 
ing body  passes  an  ordinance.  The  action  is 
published  and  if,  after  a  definite  period  no  ob- 
jection is  offered  it  goes  into  effect.  If, 
however,  within  that  period  a  petition  is  pre- 
sented signed  by  a  certain  number  of  voters, 
the  measure  does  not  become  effective  but  must 
be  submitted  to  a  popular  vote.  An  adverse 
vote  is  equivalent  to  a  veto ;  if  the  vote  is  fav- 
orable the  law  goes  into  effect  immediately. 
There  are  variations  in  this  procedure.  One 
in  quite  general  use  authorizes  the  local  legis- 
lature of  its  own  accord  to  submit  laws  to  the 


Initiative,  Referendum  and  Recall    167 

vote  of  the  electors  withont  attempting  to  act 
on  them  finally  itself.  This  procedure  has  been 
criticized  as  affording  the  legislator  an  oppor- 
tunity to  shift  the  responsibility — to  *'pass  the 
buck,"  to  the  electors  instead  of  doing  what  he 
was  elected  to  do.  It  is  defended  as  a  proper 
and  salutary  method  of  appealing  to  the  people 
in  cases  involving  matters  in  which  they  are 
greatly  interested.  In  any  form  the  referendum 
petition  constitutes  either  a  check  on  the  rep- 
resentative or  a  limitation  of  his  representative 
authority.  It  may  be  looked  upon  either  as  an 
expression  of  distrust  in  the  capacity  of  the 
representative  to  represent  those  who  elected 
him,  or  as  an  expression  of  faith  in  the  inherent 
ability  of  the  electors  as  a  whole  to  do  their 
own  law-making.  It  all  depends  on  the  point  of 
view.  Like  the  recall  the  referendum  partakes 
of  the  character  of  an  emergency  device  to  be 
used  only  when  a  considerable  portion  of  the 
electorate  is  dissatisfied  with  what  their  repre- 
sentatives have  done.  Like  the  recall,  too,  there 
should  always  be  a  requirement  of  a  substantial 
number  of  signers  before  it  can  be  invoked.* 
Furthermore,  there  should  always  be  an  addi- 


*  The  percentages  are  usually  somewhat  less  than  those  re- 
quired in  recall  elections.  They  generally  differ  according  to 
the  particular  method  employed.  The  same  holds  true  of 
the  initiative. 


168  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

tional  safeguard  providing  that  whenever  the 
necessity  for  immediate  action  is  more  pressing 
than  the  emergency  that  demands  a  referendum, 
.the  first  will  determine  the  matter  and  take  pre- 
cedence over  it. 

The  initiative  approximates  pure  direct 
legislation  more  nearly  than  the  referendum. 
It  does  not  deal  with  the  things  which  duly 
elected  representatives  have  not  done,  or  which 
they  prefer  to  have  the  electorate  decide,  but 
with  things  they  have  failed  to  do,  and  possibly 
have  never  been  asked  to  do.  When  a  certain 
number  of  electors  believe  that  some  particular 
measure  ought  to  be  passed  they  ** initiate"  it. 
Sometimes  this  is  accomplished  by  a  petition  to 
the  law-making  body  asking  them  to  pass  the 
measure  in  question.  If  the  law-making  body 
passes  it  well  and  good.  There  is  no  need  of 
a  popular  vote  on  it.  If,  however,  it  fails  to 
approve  it  within  a  given  time  the  proposal  is 
referred  to  the  people,  and  the  final  decision  is' 
left  in  their  hands  as  in  the  case  of  the  refer- 
endum. An  even  more  direct  method  provides 
for  the  direct  submission  of  a  measure  to  the 
voters  without  a  prior  submission  to  the  law- 
making body.  In  either  case,  however,  the  pro- 
posal ^* comes  from  the  people"  who  thus  take 
upon  themselves  a  duty  commonly  undertaken 


Initiative,  Referendum  and  Recall    169 

only  by  the  legislative  branch  of  the  govern- 
ment. The  initiative  is  also  an  emergency 
measure,  and  the  requirements  as  to  the  number 
of  petitioners  should  be  fully  as  large  as  that 
required  for  the  referendum.  In  practice  it 
has  proved  acceptable  and  eifective  in  several 
cities,  and  has  seldom  been  used  so  extensively 
as  to  arouse  any  considerable  opposition.* 

There  is  one  argument  against  the  wide  use 
of  the  initiative  that  has  a  great  deal  of  weight. 
It  has  to  do  with  the  method  of  drafting  the 
proposals  for  laws  that  are  to  be  submitted  to  a 
popular  vote.  One  of  the  most  serious  difficul- 
ties with  our  legislation  today  is  that  half  of  it 
is  poorly  drafted  and  frequently  does  not  really 
accomplish  the  results  aimed  at.  This  evident 
defect  has  resulted  within  the  past  few  years  in 
the  establishment  of  bill  drafting  departments 
in  many  states  and  even  in  some  cities.  The 
free  use  of  the  initiative  would  tend  to  destroy 
all  that  has  been  accomplished  in  this  direction 
unless  it  were  accompanied  by  some  provision 
that  the  laws  so  submitted  should  first  pass 
under  the  scrutiny  as  to  detail  and  phraseology 
of  bill-drafting  experts. 

But  such  a  restriction  is  opposed  by  advo- 
cates of  direct  legislation,  who  take  the  ground 

*  Experience  of  Portland. 


170  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

that  in  the  free  use  of  the  initiative  it  is  essen- 
tial that  the  measure  should  be  presented  in 
exactly  the  form  that  its  proponents  wish  and 
that  the  freedom  of  presenting  any  sort  of  a 
proposal  must  not  be  interfered  with  or  limited. 
A  poorly  drafted  proposal,  if  attacked  on  the 
ground  that  it  was  faultily  drafted,  might,  in- 
deed, be  defeated  for  that  very  reason.  There 
are  several  instances  on  record  where  laws  pro- 
posed in  this  manner  have  been  successfully 
attacked  on  such  grounds.  Nevertheless,  the 
danger  remains.  It  frequently  happens  that 
dangerous  and  ill-considered  propositions  have 
been  put  forward  by  propagandists,  some  sin- 
cere,.others  demagogic.  These  might  in  a  time 
of  public  excitement  be  accepted  by  an  unreas- 
oning electorate  if  presented  to  the  voters  as 
initiative  proposals.  This  would  not  mean  that 
the  people  could  not  be  trusted ;  it  would  mean 
merely  that  they  had  acted  without  proper 
consideration  or  under  the  impulse  of  public 
agitation.  But  the  evil  would  be  done  and  it 
might  be  impossible  to  undo  it. 

Another  danger  or  rather  weakness  in  the 
initiative  lies  in  the  fact  that  proposals  that 
appeal  to  the  voters'  generosity  or  spirit  of  hu- 
manity are  apt  to  receive  support  out  of  all 
proportion  to  their  real  merits.    To  a  certain 


Initiative,  Referendum  and  Recall    171 

extent,  of  course,  boards  of  aldermen  and  state 
legislatures  show  the  same  weakness  in  dealing 
with  special  claim  and  pension  bills  especially 
where  the  human  element  enters  largely.  But 
legislators — ^in  spite  of  some  striking  examples 
that  appear  to  prove  the  contrary — do  feel 
a  responsibility  for  their  acts  that  an  electorate 
has  not  been  educated  to  feel. 

In  conclusion,  it  may  again  be  emphasized 
that  it  is  a  serious  mistake  to  look  upon  the 
initiative,  referendum  and  recall  as  cure-alls. 
That  error  was  made  by  many  over-enthusias- 
tic advocates  of  the  direct  primary.  The 
clearer-headed  advocates  of  that  reform  had  no 
such  misconception  of  its  effect  and  in  opera- 
tion it  has  probably  fulfilled  their  expectations. 
To  them  it  meant  a  check  and  an  opportunity — 
a  check  on  boss-made  nominations — an  oppor- 
tunity which  the  members  of  a  party  might  avail 
themselves  of  when  it  seemed  likely  that  their 
wishes  were  to  be  ignored  in  the  choice  of  party 
candidates.  It  was  not  to  be  used  primarily  to 
destroy  party  organizations,  or  even  bosses.  It 
was  a  weapon  to  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  the 
electors  to  make  party  organizations  and  party 
leaders  more  responsive.  In  seven  cases  out  of 
ten  it  might  not  be  necessary  to  use  it;  in  the 
other  three  cases  there  might  be  vital  issues  at 


172  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

stake  that  made  the  opportunity  a  real  one. 
So  with  the  initiative,  referendum  and  recall. 
They  may  be  looked  upon  as  the  weapons  of  an 
adequate  civic  preparedness.  They  may  not 
have  to  be  used  often — indeed,  they  may  become 
dulled  or  broken  if  they  are  used  too  frequently. 
But  it  is  the  judgment  of  a  great  many  people 
that  they  ought  to  be  kept  in  the  civic  armory, 
where  under  proper  regulations  that  will  put 
them  out  of  reach  of  mere  malcontents  or  hot- 
heads, they  will  be  available  for  use  whenever  a 
real  necessity  arises.  An  emergency  may  not 
occur  more  than  once  in  a  generation,  but  when 
it  does  come  it  is  just  as  well  to  be  prepared  for 
it. 


CHAPTER  rX 

ADMINISTRATION   AND   CIVIL  SERVICE 

The  movement  toward  better  mnnieipal  gov- 
ermnent  has  consisted  largely  of  progress  along 
two  lines ;  first,  in  those  changes  comprehended 
in  efforts  to  make  the  executive  and  legislative 
branches  of  a  city  government  more  responsible 
and  more  responsive,  and  secondly,  in  a  recon- 
struction of  the  administrative  machinery  of 
the  city  to  render  it  more  effective  in  carrying 
out  the  policies  approved  by  the  voters  at  the 
polls,  and  in  providing  a  permanent  trained 
body  of  city  employees  who  do  their  work  irre- 
spective of  the  changes  in  the  political  com- 
plexion of  the  heads  of  the  city  government.  It 
is  to  the  second  line  of  development  that  this 
chapter  is  devoted. 

Had  those  who  imposed  on  our  American 
cities  in  the  early  days  of  the  last  century  the 
doctrine  of  a  separation  of  powers,  paid  less 
attention  to  the  application  of  that  theory,  and 
given  more  attention  to  another  sort  of  separa- 

173 


174  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

tion,  namely,  the  separation  of  the  policy  deter- 
mining and  the  policy-carrying-out  functions  of 
a  municipal  government,  the  whole  history  of 
the  development  of  American  cities  might  have 
been  different. 

Why  this  view  of  the  matter  was  not  taken 
is,  however,  not  difficult  to  see.  To  begin  with, 
it  was  not  until  along  toward  the  middle  of  the 
last  century  that  men  began  to  realize  that  there 
was  any  such  thing  as  a  municipal  problem.  It 
could  scarcely  have  been  otherwise  in  a  nation 
in  which  urban  life  had  not  become  a  factor  of 
any  real  importance.  Furthermore,  so  long  as 
men  were  accustomed  to  look  on  both  govern- 
ment and  its  administration  as  purely  political 
matters,  there  was  little  likelihood  that  any  dis- 
tinction between  the  two  would  be  discovered, 
even  had  the  administrative  functions  of  gov- 
ernment in  those  days  been  important  enough  to 
attract  attention.  But  when  we  remember  that 
there  were  practically  no  municipal  adminis- 
trative functions  of  the  sort  we  are  familiar 
with  even  in  small  cities  today,  we  need  seek  no 
further  explanation.  When  there  were  few  ap- 
parent differences  in  the  underlying  principles 
of  local,  state  and  national  governments,  even 
statesmen  may  be  excused  for  not  finding  them. 

The  multiplicity  of  new  problems  of  govern- 


Administration  and  Civil  Service    175 

ment  tHat  come  with  the  growth  of  cities,  forced 
on  those  who  concerned  themselves  with  snch 
matters,  both  governors  and  governed,  the  con- 
viction that  the  municipal  problem  was  neither 
essentially  nor  predominantly  political  in  char- 
acter. Men  began  to  see  that  while  questions 
of  policy  might  justly  be  considered  from  a  po- 
litical viewpoint,  the  carrying  out  of  those  poli- 
cies, once  they  had  been  determined,  was  purely 
a  problem  of  efficient  administration  to  be  prop- 
erly considered  in  the  same  light  as  the  carrying 
•out  of  any  other  problem  in  business  adminis- 
tration. As  nine-tenths  of  the  work  of  running 
a  city  is  clearly  administrative,  it  follows  that 
politics  has,  or  should  have,  a  comparatively 
small  part  in  municipal  affairs. 

Were  it  not  for  the  habitual  interference  of 
national  political  parties  in  the  affairs  of  cities, 
and  their  insistence  that  their  continued  exist- 
ence requires  them  to  remain  intrenched  there, 
the  solution  of  this  phase  of  the  municipal  prob- 
lem would  be  simple.  Even  under  the  existing 
unfavorable  conditions,  the  experience  of  the 
last  few  years  gives  strong  hope  that  it  will  be 
solved  in  another  decade  or  so.  Toward  this 
solution  the  demand  for  administrative  effic- 
iency is  pushing  forward  with  even  more  force 
than  the  self-interest  of  politicians  and  office 


176  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

holders  in  pulling  backward.  This  demand  is 
•based  on  the  vital  need  of  improved  methods  to 
cope  successfully  with  the  puzzling  and  diverse 
problems  of  Twentieth  Century  municipal  life 
and  government.  There  have  been  complaints 
that  **this  efficiency  business"  was  being  over- 
done, that  efficiency  was  a  fetich,  and  that  *' ef- 
ficiency" and  '* system"  were  mere  catch  words 
borrowed  from  the  business  world  to  provide 
an  opportunity  for  the  extension  of  government 
agencies,  which  can  be  administered  only  by  spe- 
cially trained  experts.  Those  who  take  this 
view  are  fond  of  telling  how  much  better  off 
we  would  be  today  if  we  had  more  ** humanity" 
and  less  ** efficiency"  in  our  government.  The 
trouble  with  their  plaint,  aside  from  its  obvious 
origin,  is  that  evidence  is  accumulating  every 
day  to  prove  that  efficiency  and  what  they  call 
** humanity"  go  hand  in  hand.  This  evidence 
shows  that  efficient  administration  can  be  reck- 
oned not  only  in  dollars  and  cents,  not  only  in 
better  government,  but  in  better  homes  and  bet- 
ter health.  It  means  not  only  progress  and  op- 
portunity, it  means  a  dollar's  worth  of  service 
for  every  dollar  a  working  man  pays  either  in 
taxes  or  in  rentals.  It  means  vastly  improved 
conditions  of  urban  life  that  spell  health  and 
happiness  to  all  dwellers  in  cities.     Wlien  it 


Administration  and  Civil  Service    177 

means  those  things  it  begins  to  have  a  signifi- 
cance that  every  man,  woman  and  child  can  un- 
derstand. 

A  good  housekeeper  desirous  of  keeping  her 
house  clean  and  in  good  order,  avails  herself 
gladly  of  a  hundred  little  time  and  labor-saving 
devices.  These  devices  are  an  expression  of 
'drained  service."  Dish- washing  machines, 
bread-mixing  machines,  vacuum  cleaners — all 
represent  the  cumulative  effort  of  trained  minds 
that  know  what  a  housekeeper  needs  and  seek 
to  supply  those  needs.  House  maids  may  come 
and  house  maids  may  go  but  the  vacuum  cleaner 
does  about  the  same  sort  of  work  in  the  hands 
of  one  as  of  another.  The  municipality  that 
seeks  to  keep  its  house  in  order  has  need  of  the 
same  sort  of  devices.  Only  here  they  are  human 
instruments  rather  than  mechanical  instru- 
ments. They  are  all  comprehended  in  the  classi- 
fication known  as  the  civil  service.  New  mayors 
and  councilmen,  new  superintendents  of  public 
works  and  police  and  health  may  come  and  go, 
but  if  a  city  has  an  efficient  civil  service  the 
city's  work  will  go  on  with  little,  if  any,  inter- 
ruption. There  was  a  time  not  so  very  long 
ago — ^indeed,  there  are  still  cities  where  the  new 
day  hasn't  dawned  yet — ^when  municipal  house- 
cleaning  meant  throwing  everything  and  every- 


178  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

body  out  of  doors  whenever  a  new  political 

party  came  into  power  in  the  city  administra- 

• 

tion.  Then  the  city's  business  came  to  a  halt; 
when  the  city  machinery  was  started  again  it 
started  with  jolts  and  jogs  because  it  was  not 
used  to  the  work  it  was  required  to  do.  The 
city  employees  were  part  of  the  spoils  of  office. 
The  party  leaders  insisted  that  the  party  ma- 
chines could  not  be  run  without  this  reward. 
They  insisted  on  taking  this  tribute  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  city.  The  city  suffered.  It  took 
many  years  to  bring  the  people  to  a  realization 
that  this  burden  was  a  needless  one.  Even  then 
they  did  not  know  how  to  eliminate  it.  Cities 
began  to  realize  that  their  city  governments 
could  be  more  efficiently  run  if  there  were  a  body 
of  trained  servants  always  on  the  job,  men  who 
knew  the  city's  business  and  whose  chief  in- 
terest lay  in  making  it  pay,  and  that  these 
trained  hands  saved  them  taxes  and  gave  them 
better  streets  and  parks  than  the  old  type  of 
untrained,  machine-picked  workers  ever  did. 
Thus  gradually,  as  this  idea  took  hold,  the 
change  was  wrought. 

A  generation  ago  a  municipal  civil  service 
on  a  merit  basis  was  looked  upon  as  a  dream 
of  impractical  theorists.  Today  its  practical 
value  is  scarcely  a  subject  for  argument.    Not 


Administration  and  Civil  Service    179 

only  reformers  but  practical  politicians  ac- 
knowledge its  worth  and  effectiveness.  Until 
the  value  of  the  merit  system  was  really 
appreciated,  there  was  no  possibility  of  more 
than  sporadic  improvement  in  municipal  ad- 
ministrative machinery.  The  two  past  decades 
have  seen  a  wonderful  change  in  this  respect. 
Today  cities,  particularly  the  larger  ones,  that 
have  not  some  approximation  to  a  civil  service 
based  on  the  merit  system  are  relatively  few. 
And  the  efficiency  of  these  systems  and  their 
steady  extension  and  effective  administration 
has  been  one  of  the  most  striking  developrnents 
of  the  new  municipal  movement. 

The  creation  of  an  efficient  civil  service  on 
a  non-political  basis  has  come  to  -be  recognized 
more  and  more  as  a  necessity  as  the  scope  of 
municipal  functions  and  activities  has  broad- 
ened and  developed,  and  as  the  number  of 
employees  engaged  in  the  municipal  service  has 
consequently  increased  with  the  variety  and  im- 
portance of  their  service.  An  electorate  is  soon 
touched  when  it  comes  to  the  question  of  paying 
taxes.  It  will  with  only  the  natural  amount  of 
grumbling  pay  taxes  to  contribute  to  the  well 
being  and  improvement  of  the  city  but  it  does 
not  relish  the  idea  of  paying  taxes  for  the 
support  of  a  partisan  political  machine.     It 


180  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

would  prefer  to  make  its  campaign  contribu- 
tions in  another  way.  Thus  when  a  municipality- 
is  called  upon  to  enter  into  a  new  field  of  munic- 
ipal activity  the  people  who  are  to  be  called 
upon  to  foot  the  bills  are  inclined  to  look  into 
the  matter  pretty  closely  to  assure  themselves 
that  their  dollars  will  actually  be  used  for  the 
contemplated  service.  If  the  men  who  are  doing 
the  city's  business  are  political  appointees 
placed  in  office  not  for  any  reason  of  their  abil- 
ity or  competency  but  because  of  work  they  may 
have  done  for  a  political  machine  or  boss,  the 
taxpayers  are  loath  to  have  the  city  enter  into 
the  new  undertaking.  They  know  the  general 
character  of  the  work  that  these  political  em- 
ployees are  capable  of  doing  and  they  feel  no 
eagerness  to  let  them  continue  that  sort  of 
service  in  new  fields.  The  surest  pledge  they 
can  exact  that  the  money  will  be  well  spent  and 
the  city  be  fully  benefited  is  that  the  work  shall 
be  done  by  a  force  of  capable  men  chosen  on 
a  merit  basis,  whose  first  loyalty  is  to  the  city 
and  not  to  a  political  machine. 

When  a  city's  business  was  small  and  its 
expenditures  small  and  when  the  entire  force 
of  city  employees  constituted  but  an  insignifi- 
cant body  of  men,  the  taxpayers  even  though 
they  recognized  the  fact  that  there  was  a  certain 


Administration  and  Civil  Service    181 

amount  of  waste  consequent  on  the  partisan  ex- 
ploitation of  the  offices,  were  apt  to  be  slow  to 
feel  its  effect  on  their  pocketbooks,  and  slow  to 
protest  against  -a  continuance  of  the  system. 
But  as  municipalities  undertook  new  functions 
and  new  agencies  and  departments  of  govern- 
ment were  created  to  look  after  them,  entailing 
a  larger  force  of  employees  and  a  larger  expen- 
diture for  salaries,  the  taxpayers  began  to 
interest  themselves  to  see  that  these  employees' 
not  only  actually  did  the  work  that  they  were 
paid  to  do  but  that  they  did  it  effectively.  It 
was  clear  that  there  could  be  no  assurance  of 
this  so  long  as  all  the  minor  administrative 
offices  were  filled  by  political  workers  as  a  re- 
ward for  partisan  work  without  regard  to 
ability  or  training  for  the  job.  The  result  of 
this  discovery  was  a  demand  for  a  standard  or 
test  of  efficiency  which  found  expression  in  the 
application  of  the  merit  system  of  appointment 
to  municipal  employees. 

The  old  system  worked  with  some  approxima- 
tion to  success  when  all  municipal  functions 
were  simple  and  when  the  financial  and  adminis- 
trative methods  of  a  city  were  little  more 
intricate  than  those  of  a  corner  grocery;  it 
broke  down  completely  when  municipal  under- 
takings began  to   require   a  high   degree   of 


182  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

technical  or  professional  skill  and  a  proficiency 
in  finance  approximating  to  that  required  by 
great  business  corporations. 

New  forms  of  municipal  government,  no 
matter  how  clearly  the  responsibility  is  fixed, 
no  matter  how  responsive  they  may  be  to  the 
demands  of  the  people  of  the  city,  cannot  in 
the  long  run  be  effective  unless  they  are  based 
on  a  solid  rock  of  administrative  efficiency. 
Unless  they  have  such  a  foundation  they  are 
mere  houses  built  upon  the  sand — a  foundation 
that  will  shift  with  every  varying  political  wind 
or  tide.  The  most  capable  executive  placed  in 
office  by  the  overwhelming  action  of  an  awak- 
ened electorate  would  be  helpless  even  with  an 
up-to-date  charter,  if  a  proper  system  of 
municipal  administration  were  lacking. 

The  difficulty  in  demonstrating  the  truth  of 
this  proposition  so  unmistakably  that  all  are 
ready  to  accept  it,  lies  primarily  in  the  failure 
to  appreciate  the  fact  that  the  task  of  adminis- 
tering the  affairs  of  a  great  city  is  business  and 
not  politics  and  that  the  two  should  be  kept 
separate.  Political  parties  strongly  entrenched 
in  municipal  offices  for  a  long  time  did  all  they 
could  to  becloud  the  issue.  They  have  not  by 
any  means  ceased  this  occupation  yet,  but  the 
wiser  heads  among  political  leaders  today  sel- 


Administration  and  Civil  Service    183 

dom  oppose  the  idea  openly ;  most  of  them,  in- 
deed, endorse  it. 

The  political  opinions  of  administrative 
officers  are  of  no  importance  whatever.  Their 
honesty,  intelligence  and  efficiency  are  of  the 
utmost  importance.  And  this  applies  not  only 
to  minor  clerks  and  bookkeepers  and  laborers 
but  fully  as  much  to  the  great  group  of  trained 
men  upon  whom  cities  are  now  coming  to  de- 
pend for  so  much  of  their  best  work.  There  is 
no  more  reason  why  the  political  views  of 
a  subordinate  in  a  city  department,  whose 
duties  -are  purely  administrative,  should 
be  considered  than  there  is  reason  for  con- 
sulting a  train  dispatcher  or  brakeman  or 
locomotive  engineer  as  to  the  policy  of  a 
great  railway  system.  The  chief  officers  of  a 
city — the  executive,  or  legislative  heads — should 
determine  municipal  policies  just  as  the  direc- 
tors of  a  great  business  corporation  determine 
the  business  policy  of  the  corporation  they 
direct.  'Their  business  is  to  adopt  policies  and 
see  that  they  are  carried  out.  To  be  carried  out 
effectively  and  consistently  this  work  mu^  be 
done  by  a  body  of  subordinates  which  is  -trained, 
loyal  and  conscientious.  But  in  very  few  in- 
stances are  the  political  views  of  these  subordi- 
nates of  any  possible  consequence.    It  is  on  this 


184  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

basis  that  an  effective  body  of  administrative 
public  servants  must  be  created.  It  can  be  es- 
tablished on  no  other  basis  as  experience  in 
municipal  administration  has  proved. 

The  administration  of  a  city's  affairs  differs 
very  little  from  the  administration  of  any  great 
commercial  or  industrial  corporation.  For  that 
very  reason  the  need  of  trained  service  is 
greater  in  a  city  than  in  any  other  field  of  gov- 
ernment. And  this  becomes  increasingly  true 
as  cities  enter  new  fields  of  public  service  and 
as  that  service  concerns  itself  more  and  more 
with  the  social  and  industrial  and  economic  life 
of  the  people  of  the  city  and  less  with  their 
purely  political  relations.  Nevertheless,  it  is 
true  that  until  recently  in  our  cities  we  have 
generally  had  the  fewest  trained  employees  in 
public  service.  We  began  with  the  idea  that 
while  it  needed  a  statesman  to  run  a  nation  or 
a  state  almost  anyone  could  take  care  of  a  city. 
So  it  has  happened  that  in  the  administration 
of  cities,  where  expert  knowledge  and  special 
training  are  most  needed,  there  have  been  the 
fewest  men  with  sucK  qualifications  employed. 
If  city  administration  has  been  weak  and  hap- 
hazard it  is  a  simple  matter  to  trace  the  reason 
for  this  weakness  and  lack  of  order  to  the 
inexperience  and  incapacity  of  the  men  em- 
ployed in  municipal  administration. 


Administration  and  Civil  Service    185 

It  must  be  admitted  that  there  is  a  natural 
tendency  in  this  country — or  at  least  that  there 
has  been  such  a  tendency  until  quite  recently — 
to  distrust  the  so-called  expert  in  public  office 
and  to  look  upon  the  creation  of  a  professionally 
trained  official  class  of  public  employees  as  a 
step  toward  the  establishment  of  a  bureaucracy, 
the  very  idea  of  which  is  repugnant  to  a  democ- 
racy. This  fear  or  distrust  of  the  trained  expert 
is,  in  part  at  least,  based  on  the  belief  that  he 
cannot  be  properly  controlled.  The  same 
objections  were  often  raised  a  generation  ago 
to  the  establishment  of  a  civil  service  and  for 
the  same  reason.  But  as  the  civil  service  has 
become  a  settled  fact  without  these  fears  being 
realized,  the  feeling  has  diminished  if  it  has 
not  almost  disappeared.  Nowadays  it  is  pretty 
generally  assumed  that  the  mere  trained  worker 
in  the  civil  service  is  sufficiently  controlled  by 
the  civil  service  laws  and  regulations.  And 
now  the  same  old  objection  is  raised  in  connec- 
tion with  the  expert.  However,  the  movement 
in  the  direction  of  a  fixed  responsibility  is  pro- 
viding to  some  extent  an  offset  to  this  danger 
— if  danger  it  really  be.  It  is  entirely  conceiv- 
able that  uncontrolled  experts,  frequently 
relieved  from  the  operation  of  the  civil  service 
laws,  might  in  some  cases  use  the  power  and 


186  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

authority  that  comes  from  their  superior 
knowledge  or  greater  usefulness,  in  such  a  way 
as  to  be  a  menace  to  popular  government, 
although  it  is  scarcely  conceivable  that  they 
could  ever  do  half  the  harm  to  the  cause  of 
democracy  that  the  partisan  municipal  boss  has 
done.  But  experts  exercising  their  powers 
merely  to  carry  out  in  an  efficient  manner,  poli- 
cies determined  by  those  directly  chosen  by  the 
electorate  and  responsible  to  the  electorate, 
should  be  a  source  not  of  distrust  but  of 
confidence. 

There  exists  a  considerable  difference  of 
opinion  as  to  the  feasibility  of  selecting  experts 
for  the  higher  grades  in  the  city  administrative 
service  on  the  basis  of  civil  service  examina- 
tions. Civil  service  laws  were  originally 
intended  to  destroy  the  spoils  system  and  to 
lessen  the  political  control  of  the  lower  grade 
of  government  employees.  That  was  before  the 
technical  expert  became  the  important  factor 
in  municipal  administration  thiat  he  is  today. 
It  has  'been  questioned  whether  a  municipal 
civil  service  commission  as  ordinarily  consti- 
tuted is  capable  of  selecting  experts  and 
whether  competitive  examinations  to  ascertain 
the  relative  merit  of  candidates  are  applicable 
to  cases  where  there  should  be  a  considerable 


Administration  and  Civil  Service    187 

degree  of  freedom  in  making  a  choice  between 
applicants.  Nevertheless,  many  civil  service 
reformers  declare  that  the  merit  system  idea 
ought  to  be  extended  to  cover  these  cases,  and 
that  if  it  is  not  flexible  enough  or  comprehensive 
enough,  it  should  be  reshaped  to  fit  the  new 
situation.  This  has  been  attempted  in  some 
cities  with  a  considerable  degree  of  success. 
Nevertheless,  those  who  express  doubt  that  the 
civil  service  system  can  be  satisfactorily  ex- 
tended to  cover  the  selection  of  experts,  make 
the  point,  among  others,  that  while  an  expert 
occupying  a  high  position  ought  to  be  properly 
safeguarded  to  assure  the  permanency  of  his 
position,  the  complete  independence  of  the  ad- 
ministrative or  executive  officers  might  lead  to 
the  lack  of  control  which  is  so  frequently  urged 
against  the  employment  of  experts. 

There  is  one  problem  in  connection  with  the 
municipal  civil  service  which  many  observers 
believe  may  prove  a  source  of  considerable 
danger  to  municipal  home  rule,  if  not  an  actual 
menace  to  local  self-government.  An  argument 
against  the  creation  of  a  civil  service  class 
when  it  was  first  advocated  was  that  it  would 
tend  to  the  creation  of  a  bureaucracy.  This 
danger  has  shown  little  indication  of  develop- 
ing    in     America.       Tl^ere     has     developed, 


188  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

however,  a  significant  increase  of  a  class  feeling 
among  civil  service  employees.  The  existence 
of  such  a  feeling  is  of  little  consequence  where 
the  civil  service  employees  are  few  in  number. 
The  rapid  increase  in  the  number  and  extent  of 
municipal  agencies,  however,  has  resulted  in 
making  municipal  employees  a  considerable 
numerical  factor  in  most  cities  in  the  country. 
The  power  of  this  body  of  civil  servants  is  in- 
creased by  their  homogeneity  and  their  common 
interests.  It  is  increased  also  by  the  fact  that 
they  have  come  to  constitute  an  absolutely 
necessary  element  in  city  life  and  because  their 
occupation  in  most  instances  brings  them  into 
close  and  intimate  relationship  mth  every  other 
element  in  the  city's  population.  It  is  in  this 
situation  that  some  people  believe  they  see  a 
sinister  menace  to  municipal  democracy. 

It  is  only  recently  that  municipal  authorities 
have  awakened  to  the  fact  that  municipal 
employees  are  becoming  more  powerful  than 
any  other  group  of  citizens  not  excluding  the 
labor  unions.  The  significance  of  this  new  force 
has  been  emphasized  by  the  fact  that  al- 
though chosen  on  a  non-partisan  basis,  they 
are  distinctly  **in  politics."  Their  politi- 
cal activity,  moreover,  is  not  confined  to 
elections,    but   is   in    evidence    every   day    in 


Administration  and  Civil  Service    189 

the  year.  Their  interests  as  indicated  by  their 
recent  political  activities  in  many  states  are 
primarily  selfish.  It  would  seem  that  they  are 
concerned  not  only  in  efforts  to  improve  their 
o^vn  condition — ^in  itself  a  wholly  commendable 
object — but  more  particularly  in  attempts  to 
strengthen  their  own  position  and  free  them- 
selves from  their  municipal  obligations  at  the 
expense  of  the  proper  administrative  control 
and  the  improvement  of  the  municipal  service. 
Their  activities,  as  demonstrated  especially  in 
attempts  to  amend  state  laws  and  city  charters, 
are  concerned  primarily  with  piling  up  munici- 
pal expenditures  through  such  mandatory 
provisions  as  the  creation  of  fixed  platoon 
systems  in  fire  and  police  departments,  the 
creation  of  unscientific  pension  funds  and  the 
increase  of  salaries.  They  also  frequently  en- 
deavor to  loosen  the  administrative  control  of 
city  authorities  by  extending  the  right  of  appeal 
to  the  courts  through  certiorari  proceedings  and 
by  forcing  reinstatements  and  rehearings  in 
the  case  of  employees  who  have  been  dropped 
or  punished. 

It  is  significant  that  this  movement  among 
civil  service  employees  extends  not  only  to  mem- 
bers of  the  uniformed  civil  service  but 
frequently  to  the  employees  in  the  Department 


190  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

of  Education,  including  school  teachers.  It  is 
a  matter  of  concern  that  this  class  of  civil 
servants  upon  whom  the  country  must  depend 
for  inculcating  into  coming  generations  a 
proper  understanding  of  the  meaning  of  gov- 
ernment and  the  obligations  of  citizenship 
should,  as  they  have  in  many  instances,  make 
common  cause  with  street  cleaners  and  garbage 
gatherers  in  attempts  to  increase  the  city  pay- 
roll and  lessen  the  power  of  the  city  to  control 
its  employees.  There  should  exist  in  the  civil 
service  laws  of  every  state  and  in  the  civil 
service  ordinances  of  every  city,  ample  safe- 
guards for  the  civil  service  employees.  But 
even  though  it  be  agreed  that  education  is  and 
must  remain  primarily  a  state  function,  there 
ought  to  be,  nevertheless,  some  adequate  control 
in  the  hands  of  some  city  authorities  so  long  as 
teachers  are  to  be  paid  not  by  the  state  but  by 
the  city. 

Neither  statutes  nor  constitutions  will  avail 
to  prevent  the  development  of  class  feeling,  but 
conferring  adequate  powers  on  a  city  to  control 
its  own  salaries  and  employees  will  at  least 
properly  limit  the  development  to  individual 
cities  and  prevent  the  civil  servants  of  various 
cities  combining  to  force  their  demands  on  the 
cities  through  mandatory  anti-home  rule  legis- 


Administration  and  Civil  Service    191 

lation.  "With  the  power  and  responsibility  thus 
placed  squarely  where  it  belongs,  it  must  be 
left  to  an  informed  electorate,  acting  through 
its  chosen  representatives,  to  apply  the  neces- 
sary remedy  to  conserve  the  interests  of  the 
city  as  against  selfish  class  interest. 

Both  the  home-rule  movement  and  the- 
commission-government  movement  have  con- 
tributed to  the  improvement  of  municipal 
administration  and  the  strengthening  and 
extension  of  the  merit  system  in  municipalities. 
When  cities  obtain  an  adequate  grant  of  home 
rule  powers  the  realization  of  the  new  respon- 
sibility for  municipal  well  being  that  is  apt  to 
accompany  it  usually  developes  a  demand  for 
an  efficiently  trained  civil  service  that  will  be 
capable  of  carrying  it  on.  City  officers  will 
hesitate  to  embark  in  new  enterprises  until  they 
are  assured  that  the  city  is  equipped  to  carry 
them  out.  Home  rule  involves  a  power  to  con- 
trol municipal  officers  and  municipal  expendi- 
tures. No  'such  control  can  be  made  really  ef- 
fective so  long  as  there  is  lacking  an  adequate 
administrative  equipment  based  on  a  trained 
civil  service.  The  impulse  to  create  such  a  serv- 
ice under  the  circumstances  is  likely  to  be  a 
strong  one,  and  so  it  has  proved  in  practice. 

A  similar  impulse  has  been  created  by  the 


192  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

spread  of  the  commission  government  move- 
ment.  Tlie  underlying  idea  of  a  commission 
form  of  government  is  a  centralized  authority 
that  will  be  at  once  both  responsible  and 
responsive.  At  the  very  inception  of  the 
movement  it  was  seen  that  it  would  be  difficult 
if  not  impossible  to  make  the  system  work  if 
the  machinery  of  administration  and  the  men 
who  run  the  machinery  were  incapable  of  the 
tasks  assigned  them  or  could  not  be  relied  on 
to  do  what  they  were  told  to  do.  The  only 
way  that  such  efficiency  could  be  assured  was  in 
the  creation  of  a  trained  civil  service.  So  hand 
in  hand  with  the  shortening  of  the  ballot  and 
the  application  of  the  principle  of  non-partisan 
elections  there  has  gone  the  establishment  in 
most,  if  not  all  commission-governed  cities,  of 
a  civil  service  based  on  the  merit  system. 

To  what  extent  should  cities  have  control 
over  their  municipal  civil  service?  Does  a 
proper  working  out  of  the  home  rule  principle 
require  that  the  municipal  civil  service  should 
be  divorced  completely  from  state  control? 
These  are  some  of  the  questions  asked  by  civil 
service  reformers  and  administrators,  who  have 
pointed  out  that  a  danger  lies  in  a  broad  grant 
of  home  rule  powers  if  it  is  to  include  absolute 
and  unrestricted  control  by  a  city  over  the  ad- 


Administration  and  Civil  Service    193 

ministration  of  its  civil  service.  Many  of  these 
critics  go  so  far  as  to  take  the  ground  that  all 
civil  service,  state,  county  and  municipal,  should 
be  under  the  direction  and  control  of  a  state 
authority.  They  express  the  belief  that  the 
subject  of  the  civil  service  constitutes  one  of 
the  necessary  exceptions  to  the  home  rule 
theory,  and  that  state  control  in  this  regard 
means  greater  efficiency  and  a  more  complete 
divorce  of  the  civil  service  from  the  influences 
of  partisan  politics. 

Granting  a  city  complete  control  over  its  civil 
service  including  not  only  the  administration  of 
the  civil  service  law,  and  the  making  of  local 
regulations,  but  the  fixing  of  standards  and  of 
qualifications,  would,  without  doubt,  open  the 
way  for  perversions  and  official  nullification  of 
the  law  in  many  municipalities.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  system  of  almost  complete  state  con- 
trol such  as  is  exercised  in  Massachusetts,  while 
doubtless  providing  a  most  satisfactory  and 
efficient  service,  is  open  to  the  charge  that  it 
interferes  with  municipalities  in  an  entirely 
proper  control  of  municipal  employees,  and  thus 
tends  to  a  shirking  of  responsibility  on  the  part 
of  administrators,  and  a  contempt  or  disregard 
for  authority  on  the  part  of  the  civil  servants. 

It  is  probable  that  the  fullest  advantages  of 


194  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

home  rule  so  far  as  the  civil  service  is  con- 
cerned,  conld   he    obtained   nnder    a    system 
similar  to  that  in  force  in  New  York  State.    The 
cities  of  New  York  need  home  rule  in  most 
respects  very  badly.    So  far  as  their  civil  serv- 
ice is  concerned,  however,  they  have  the  benefit 
of  a  well-balanced  system  which,  while  retaining 
in  the  state  civil  service  commission  the  general 
supervision  and  some  measure  of  actual  control 
over  local  municipal  commissions,  at  the  same 
time  leaves  with  the  local  commissions  the  right 
of  initiative  in  local  administration  and  com- 
plete control  of  detail.    The  New  York  system 
is  based  on  the  theory  that  the  merit  system 
should  be  a  state  system  based  on  a  general 
constitutional  provision  and  on  general  state 
laws.    Through  the  powers  vested  in  the  state 
commission,  therefore,  uniformity  in  the  admin- 
istration of  the  law  and  the  enforcement  of  the 
constitutional    provisions    is    secured.      This 
supervision  by  the  state  commission  provides  a 
safeguard  against  the  prostitution  of  the  local 
civil  service  for  partisan  political  advantage. 
It  provides  also  an  effective  check  against  the 
failure  to  enforce  the  law  by  local  authorities 
and  tends  to  keep  the  whole  civil  service  up  to 
the  standard  established  by  the  state  commis- 
sion.   In  this  respect  it  is  not  only  a  check  but 


Administration  and  Civil  Service    195 

also  a  very  valuable  support  to  local  commis- 
sions which  from  time  to  time  are  apt  to  be 
subjected  to  undue  pressure  by  local  authori- 
ties. 

This  system  has  worked  well  in  New  York 
State.  Experience  has  shown  that  the  proper 
balance  can  be  maintained.  Local  civil  service 
commissions  have  worked  out  their  own  local 
problems  with  the  assurance  that  they  could 
have  the  support  of  the  state  commission  if 
they  needed  it  and  with  reliance  on  the  state  law 
from  which  they  derive  their  authority.  The 
state  commission  has  not  attempted  to  usurp 
the  powers  of  local  commissions  and  has  prob- 
ably been  able  to  accomplish  more  for  the  merit 
system  and  with  less  friction  than  would  have 
been  possible  had  the  complete  control  over 
local  civil  service  been  vested  in  it. 

Control  over  its  civil  service  must  be  included 
in  any  catalogue  of  legitimate  and  necessary 
home  rule  prowess.  That  control  may  be  lim- 
ited by  conferring  on  a  staif  board  general  su- 
pervisory powers  over  such  service  in  general, 
and  certain  authority  over  local  commissions. 
But  direct  administrative  control  should  be 
vested  in  the  city  authorities. 


CHAPTER   X 


PUBLIC   UTILITIES 


No  discussion  of  municipal  home  rule — the 
power  of  a  city  to  work  out  its  own  municipal 
destiny — would  be  complete  without  a  consider- 
ation of  the  relationship  of  the  city  to  its  public 
utilities.  The  problem,  however,  is  so  intricate, 
and  in  many  respects  requires  a  discussion  of 
factors  so  technical  and  involved  in  character, 
that  little  more  can  be  done  here  than  to  sketch 
the  part  the  public  service  situation  plays  in 
the  new  municipal  movement,  and  to  indicate 
its  bearings  on  the  broad  problem  of  home  rule. 
To  do  this  it  will  be  necessary  to  review  briefly 
some  of  the  more  marked  phases  of  recent  pub- 
lic service  development  and  to  give  some  con- 
sideration to  the  principle  involved  in  the 
situation. 

This  problem  is  complicated  at  the  outset  by 
certain  factors  which  cannot  be  lost  sight  of  in 
any  effort  to  apply  remedies  to  apparent  evils. 
One  of  those  is  that  in  dealing  with  public  util- 

196 


Public  Utilities  197 

ities  we  are  dealing  with  a  class  of  interests  that 
by  reason  of  the  indispensability  of  the  service 
rendered,  and  their  close  relation  to  the  every 
day  life  of  the  conmiunity,  justify  the  exercise 
of  extraordinary  powers  of  regulation  and  au- 
thority. The  importance  of  this  factor  is 
emphasized  by  the  essentially  monopolistic 
character  of  public  utilities  and  the  impossibil- 
ity of  leaving  such  matters  as  rates  or  the 
efficiency  of  the  service,  to  be  regulated  by  com- 
petition, which  under  ordinary  circumstances 
would  be  apt  to  result  in  chaos  rather  than  reg- 
ulation. 

From  the  point  of  view  of  the  advocates  of 
municipal  home  rule,  the  public  utility  problem, 
like  the  problem  of  the  form  of  a  city's  govern- 
ment, the  authority  of  city  law-makers,  the  plan 
of  its  city  elections  or  the  control  of  city  prop- 
erty, is  solely  a  question  of  adequate  powers  to 
do  those  things  which  concern  the  city  for  the 
city's  welfare.  It  is  in  reality  a  phase  of  the 
broad  proposition — and  by  far  the  most  puz- 
zling phase — of  the  control  of  city  property ;  for 
a  public  utility  franchise  is  the  grant  of  a  right 
to  use  city  property.  In  its  practical  application 
this  question  divides  itself  into  two  general  as- 
pects :  First,  the  problem  of  whether  the  city  or 
the  state  or  both  should  exercise  control  and 


198  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

regulation  and  in  what  measure,  and  secondly, 
the  problem  of  whether  a  city  should  own  and 
operate  its  own  public  utilities. 

As  it  stands  today,  the  consideration  of  the 
extent  to  which  a  city  may  go  or  should  go  in 
controlling,  regulating,  owning  or  operating  its 
public  service  agencies,  presents  some  of  the 
most  difficult  problems  American  municipalities 
are  called  on  to  solve.  The  books  and  pamph- 
lets written  on  the  subject  would  fill  a  good- 
sized  library.  The  problem  is  certainly  a  debat- 
able one.  But  it  is  made  more  difficult  to  settle 
because  of  the  fact  that  those  holding  opposing 
views  seem  so  frequently  inclined  not  to  join 
the  issue  squarely. 

Like  every  other  municipal  problem  in  Amer- 
ica, this  problem  developed  from  the  changing 
conditions  of  urban  life  as  the  needs  of  a  grow- 
ing community  expanded  and  the  service  a  city 
required  for  its  inhabitants  increased.  As  mu- 
nicipal needs  were  disclosed  some  new  agency 
was  devised  to  satisfy  them.  Usually  these  new 
agencies,  whether  commercial  or  philanthropic, 
were  the  result  of  private  initiative.  So  in 
almost  every  city  in  the  land,  there  grew  up 
private  corporations  that  were  occupying  a  par- 
ticular field  and  providing  service  for  the  public 
in  the  form  of  lighting,  water  supply,  transit 


Public  Utilities  199 

facilities  and  so  on,  on  the  basis  of  franchises 
obtained  in  a  great  variety  of  ways  and  dis- 
closing remarkable  differences  in  terms  and  con- 
ditions. 

For  some  time  the  cities  themselves  appeared 
to  be  wholly  uninterested  in  the  terms  of  these 
contracts;  it  did  not  seem  to  worry  them  that 
they  had  given  away  rights  in  perpetuity,  tied 
the  hands  of  future  generations  in  coping  with 
the  corporations  they  had  created,  or  saddled 
their  descendants  with  a  load  of  debt.  They 
were  apparently  satisfied  when  their  own  im- 
mediate comfort  and  convenience  was  met. 
The  conditions  which  led  to  a  change  in  the 
attitude  of  the  public  and  to  the  consideration 
of  whether  these  corporations  were  giving  an 
adequate  return  in  service  for  their  privileges, 
which  so  frequently  in  practice  amounted  to  a 
virtual  monopoly,  are  not  difficult  to  trace. 

There  is  no  gainsaying  the  fact  that  most  of 
our  municipal  public  service  corporations  pos- 
sessed both  energy  and  enterprise.  "What  they 
have  apparently  lacked  is  foresight,  not  as  to 
their  own  vested  interests  but  that  foresight 
which  consists  in  an  appreciation  of  the  fact 
that  overwhelming  greed  and  a  dulled  sense  of 
political  ethics  would  surely  in  the  long  run 
arouse  a  spirit  of  public  revolt.     Had  they 


200  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

adopted  in  the  beginning  a  policy  in  which  en- 
lightened public  interest  played  some  part,  the 
crisis  would  have  been  slow  in  coming.  They  did 
not  appear  to  realize  ^that  a  corporation  provid- 
ing public  service  must  seek  not  only  to  please 
its  public  but  to  treat  it  fairly.  A  majority  of 
them  did  and  many  still  do  apparently  proceed 
on  the  theory  that  the  public  owed  them  every- 
thing and  that  they  owed  the  public  little  or 
nothing  except  the  service  for  which  they  re- 
ceived payment. 

This  policy  on  the  part  of  public  service 
corporations  was  signalized  by  their  attempts 
to  get  everything  they  could  for  nothing  and  to 
drive  as  sharp  a  bargain  as  possible  for  what 
they  were  compelled  to  pay  for.  In  accomplish- 
ing their  purposes  they  frequently  engaged 
in  all  sorts  of  sharp  practices  including  often 
the  bribery  of  public  officials,  political  leaders 
and  political  parties.  They  excused  their  ac- 
tions on  the  ground  of  self-defense  and 
self-preservation.  Thus  was  created  that  close 
alliance  between  corrupt  business  and  corrupt 
politics,  the  termination  of  which  has  presented 
one  of  the  most  serious  problems  in  .American 
politics. 

It  was  the  tardy  realization  of  this  evil  that 
at  length  aroused  cities  to  demand  that  some 


Public  Utilities  201 

way  be  found  to  eradicate  it.  But  it  had  al- 
ready eaten  its  way  into  the  very  fibre  of  our 
political  life.  The  people  of  one  city  began  to 
look  about  and  inquire  how  other  cities  were 
attacking  this  disease.  The  same  latent  civic 
spirit  that  finally  and  successfully  rebelled  at 
the  incubus  of  the  spoils  system,  that  weakened 
the  grip  of  party  bosses  and  rings  in  city  af- 
fairs, demanded  that  public  service  corpora- 
tions should  withdraw  from  politics  and  be 
forced  to  give  their  attention  to  serving  the 
public. 

All  sorts  of  remedies  were  suggested.  Among 
these  proposed  correctives  were  publicity  of 
campaign  contributions  and  the  prohibition  of 
such  contributions  by  corporations,  publicity 
of  corporation  accounts,  referendums  on  fran- 
chises, limitation  on  franchises,  stipulated  pay- 
ments for  franchises  enjoyed  and  the  control 
by  a  municipal  or  state  body  over  the  capitali- 
zation of  corporations,  their  extensions,  their 
financial  transactions,  the  quality  of  their  serv- 
ice, and  the  fairness  of  their  rates.  The  most 
radical  remedy  proposed  was  municipal  owner- 
ship and  operation. 

With  some  of  these  proposals  we  shall  not 
concern  ourselves :  they  have  no  bearing  on  the 
subject  of  the  powers  of  a  city,  and  can  be 


202  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

safely  disregarded  in  a  discussion  of  the  issues 
involved  in  the  problem  of  municipal  home  rule. 
That  is  not  true,  however,  of  the  proposals  for 
government  regulation  and  control,  nor  is  it 
true  of  the  question  of  municipal  ownership  and 
operation. 

Taking  up  first  the  subject  of  regulation  and 
control,  we  find  ourselves  at  once  precipitated 
into  a  controversial  field.  This  is  one  of  the 
subjects  that  has  led  to  radical  differences  of 
opinion  even  among  those  who  are  in  pretty 
general  agreement  on  most  of  the  debatable 
points  in  the  home-rule  movement.  It  is  unde- 
niably true  that  the  tendency  of  recent  years 
has  been  toward  state  control  of  public  utili- 
ties through  a  state  commission.  This  proposal 
has  been  widely  accepted  as  the  most  effective 
and  satisfactory  method  of  dealing  with  munic- 
ipal public  utilities.  In  its  most  extreme 
application  it  would  have  the  practical  effect 
of  completely  abolishing  the  power  of  munici- 
palities to  control  local  public  service  situations 
either  by  the  terms  of  franchises  or  by  local 
regulation.  This  tendency,  according  to  those 
who  contend  that  a  city  must  possess  adequate 
power  to  control  its  own  public  service  agencies 
if  it  is  to  work  out  its  o^^oi  municipal  destiny 
successfully,  has  gone  altogether  too  far  in  the 


Public  Utilities  203 

direction  of  centralization  in  the  hands  of  the 
state  authorities. 

This  difference  of  opinion  has  resulted  in  two 
movements,  tending  apparently  in  diametrically- 
opposite  directions,  one  directed  toward  the 
extension  and  strengthening  of  municipal 
authority  over  public  utilities,  the  other  moving 
toward  the  complete  elimination  of  local  control 
and  the  substitution  of  state  control  and  regu- 
lation in  its  place. 

Those  who  advocate  exclusive  control  by  a 
state  commission  start  with  the  proposition 
that  every  demand  for  efficiency  and  economy 
points  to  state  control,  as  the  only  proper 
method.  They  contend  that  only  through  such 
control  can  waste  and  inefficiency,  duplication 
of  effort  and  conflicts  of  jurisdiction  be  elim- 
inated. They  believe  that  only  thus  can  there 
be  worked  out  a  consistent  and  comprehensive 
regulatory  system,  based  on  precedents  that 
have  stood  the  test  of  wide  practical  applica- 
tion. 

For  another  reason  they  contend  that  local 
control  must  prove  impractical  and  ineffective. 
This  is  that  with  the  rapid  extension  of  inter- 
urban  traction  systems,  the  question  of  transit 
cannot  longer  be  considered  a  local  matter. 
They  point  to  instances  in  which  a  single  gas  or 


204  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

electric  company  or  water-supply  system  is 
made  to  serve  more  than  one  community,*  and 
as  for  telephone  systems,  tliey  seldom,  if  ever, 
operate  solely  within  a  single  city. 

A  further  objection  to  local  control  is  di- 
rected at  the  possible  prejudice  that  might 
arise  in  the  case  of  a  local  regulatory  body, 
which  would  be  subjected  to  local  public  and 
political  pressure,  from  which  a  state  body 
would  be  free.  Finally,  it  is  argued  that  purely 
as  a  practical  proposition  few  cities,  and  these 
only  the  very  large  ones,  could  afford  to  sup- 
port an  adequate  local  commission  of  such  a 
character  that  its  conclusions  and  orders  would 
be  based  on  scientifically  ascertained  jcnowledge 
of  such  a  character  as  to  give  assurance  either 
of  value  or  impartiality. 

Those  who  believe  in  including  local  author- 
ity over  public  utilities  in  a  city's  home-rule 
powers,  do  not  all  insist  that  the  city  should 


*  A  recent  case  of  this  sort  attracted  attention  in  New 
York.  The  city  of  Mount  Vernon,  which  adjoins  New 
York  City  on  the  north,  sought  permission  of  the  State 
Conservation  Commission  as  required  by  law,  to  tap  New 
York's  acqueduct.  The  Commission  refused  on  the  ground 
that  the  private  water  company  which  now  serves  Mount 
Vernon  and  several  adjoining  towns,  if  deprived  of  its 
income  from  Mount  Vernon  could  no  longer  afford  to 
serve  the  smaller  communities  which  would  thus  be  left 
without  adequate  water  supply.  The  legislature  last  year 
sought  to  settle  the  matter  by  eliminating  from  the  law 
the  provision  requiring  the  consent  of  the  State  Commis- 
sion. 


Public  Utilities  205 

necessarily  retain  exclusive  jurisdiction  over  its 
public  utilities.  Instead  of  taking  this  extreme 
ground,  they  acknowledge  the  weight  of  many 
of  the  arguments  made  by  the  state  control 
advocates,  but  express  the  view  that  a  practical 
basis  for  a  division  of  authority  between  the 
state  and  municipality  can  be  found,  which  will 
maintain  the  principle  of  state  control  in  a  well- 
defined  field,  and  at  the  same  time  recognize  the 
home-rule  principle.  Despite  the  known  in- 
stances where  some  public  service  agencies 
serve  more  than  one  community,  it  is  maintained 
that  these  are  exceptions,  and  that  it  cannot  be 
fairly  or  seriously  argued  that  public  utilities 
are  not  essentially*and  primarily  urban  in  char- 
acter. 

Thus  while  believers  in  home  rule  are  firm  in 
the  conviction  that  the  control  of  public-service 
functions  is  essential  to  a  satisfactory  accept- 
ance of  the  home-rule  principle  and,  therefore, 
should  remain  as  far  as  possible  with  the  local 
authorities,  they  admit  that  any  system  of  con- 
trol to  be  both  effective  and  comprehensive, 
should  also  recognize  the  principle  of  coopera- 
tion between  local  and  state  authorities.  A  city, 
for  instance,  should  clearly  have  control  of  its 
streets,  and  be  able  .to  decide  for  itself  on 
what  terms  they  may  be  used.    In  furtherance 


206  Emstnclpation  of  the  American  City 

of  a  city  planning  program  or  improvement  for 
the  relief  of  congestion  of  population,  it  should 
have  some  authority  over  necessary  changes  in 
its  traction  lines.  It  should  be  able  to  deter- 
mine the  adequacy  of  service  rendered,  the 
terms  on  which  it  shall  be  rendered,  and  be 
able  to  regulate  if  not  to  determine  finally  the 
difficult  matter  of  extensions.  The  state,  on 
the  other  hand,  might  logically  regulate  such 
matters  as  the  capitalization  and  bond  issues 
of  public  utility  corporations,  their  method  of 
accounting  and  its  publicity,  and  apply  uniform 
rules  to  safeguard  the  stability  of  investments. 
Here  again  the  problem  resolves  itself  into 
one  of  adequate  power.  Many  small  cities  will 
not  care  to  maintain  a  regulatory  commission, 
and  will  be  satisfied  with  a  minimum  of  control 
over  the  streets  which  may  be  exercised  by 
ordinance  of  the  local  legislative  body  or  a  city 
department.  But  every  city,  large  or  small, 
should  have  the  power  to  assume  authority  in 
a  well  defined  field  through  a  local  board  if 
it  wishes.  Failing  that  there  must  reside  in  a 
state  board  a  broad,  general  jurisdiction  to  be 
exercised  in  the  country  districts  and  in  those 
cities  which  are  not  ready  to  avail  themselves 
of  this  home-rule  power.  Finally,  if  a  local 
board  has  original  jurisdiction,  over  such  mat- 


Public  Utilities  207 

ters  as  rates  and  extensions,  there  should  be  an 
appeal  allowed  to  the  state  board. 

One  of  the  considerations  urged  by  those  who 
favor  municipal  rather  than  state  control  of 
public  utilities,  is  that  the  public  service  cor- 
porations prefer  state  control,  in  fact,  that  they 
are  to  some  extent  responsible  for  the  wide  ac- 
ceptance of  the  idea.  The  argument  of  those 
who  distrust  state  control  is  that  the  demand 
for  it  does  not  come  from  the  cities  and  that  it 
did  not  appear  until  after  the  home-rule  move- 
ment was  well  under  way.  By  these  then  it  is 
pointed  out  with  justice,  that  the  state  has  never 
shown  itself  particularly  careful  of  the  rights 
of  cities  and  that  cities  have  suffered  much  from 
the  action  of  state  authorities  in  thrusting  upon 
them  franchises  and  public  utility  legislation 
without  the  most  careful  regard  for  the  welfare 
of  the  city.  The  state  has  not  only  failed  la- 
mentably in  its  obligation  to  protect  the  cities 
against  corporate  abuses,  it  is  contended,  but 
by  its  refusal  to  allow  the  cities  the  exercise  of 
adequate  powers,  has  rendered  the  city  incap- 
able of  defending  itself  and  often  put  it  abso- 
lutely at  the  mercy  of  public  service  corpora- 
tions. Both  the  legislature  and  the  courts,  it  is 
contended,  with  a  great  deal  of  truth,  have  been 
responsible  for  this  unhappy  situation.     For 


208  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

these  reasons  many  home  rule  advocates  look 
on  the  movement  for  state  control  with  distrust 
and  suspicion. 

To  the  complaint  that  the  local  authorities, 
being  interested  parties,  cannot  be  trusted  to 
control  their  local  public  utilities,  it  is  pointed 
out  that  the  same  argument  carried  out  logi- 
cally might  apply  to  control  by  the  state  of 
railways  and  other  corporations  in  which  the 
people  of  the  state  are  interested.  There  is 
thus  raised  squarely  the  question  whether  state 
or  local  control  would  be  most  likely  to  result 
in  a  fairer  and  more  intelligent  control  farthest 
removed  from  the  political  influences  which 
have  been  the  greatest  obstacle  to  progress  and 
improvement.* 

In  considering  the  question  of  control  and 
regulation,  moreover,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind 
that  there  is  a  multitude  of  factors  that  make 


*  Prof.  J.  Allen  Smith  of  the  University  of  Washington, 
in  the  "National  Municipal  Review,"  January,  1914,  makes 
the  following  point  in  regard  to  the  controversy  between 
advocates  of  municipal  and  state  control: 

"One  argument  of  which  much  is  made  by  the  pro- 
moters of  state  control  through  a  commission,  is  that  such 
a  plan  will  take  the  question  of  public  utility  control  out 
of  politics.  It  is  easy  to  see  that  in  depriving  cities  of  all 
power  in  relation  to  public  utilities,  this  vitally  important 
matter  is  in  fact  taken  out  of  municipal  politics.  It  merely 
transfers  this  question,  however,  to  another  and  larger 
political  arena,  the  state,  and  in  this  arena  the  public  util- 
ity corporations  by  making  common  cause  hope  to  secure 
more  satisfactory  results  than  is  possible  through  the  now 
democratized  municipal  governments." 


Public  Utilities  209 

the  subject  unusually  difficult,  and  that  not  the 
least  of  these  is  that  the  problem  presents  rad- 
ically different  aspects  in  different  parts  of  the 
country,  and  indeed  in  every  municipality.  This 
frequently  makes  it  hard  to  maintain  an  argu- 
ment for  one  type  of  control  as  against  another. 
In  a  part  of  the  country  where  the  cities  are 
widely  separated,  the  problem  presents  aspects 
that  do  not  apply  to  a  metropolitan  centre  with 
numerous  populous  suburbs,  to  a  region  where 
cities  are  as  closely  located  as  they  are  in  some 
of  .the  populous  eastern  states,  or  to  neighbor- 
ing urban  communities  located  partly  in  one 
state  and  partly  in  another. 

Each  of  these  classifications  must  be  consid- 
ered as  presenting  a  distinct  and  separate 
problem.  So  also  must  the  relative  size  and 
financial  capacity  of  a  city  be  considered.  Yet 
difficult  as  all  this  may  seem,  there  should  be 
no  insuperable  obstacle  in  the  way  of  working 
out  a  plan  that  would  prove  of  greatest  advan- 
tage to  the  locality  and  still  maintain  the 
essentials  of  the  home  rule  principle. 

Before  discussing  this  subject,  reference  must 
be  made  to  one  of  the  most  serious  and  perplex- 
ing problems  in  connection  with  the  public  util- 
ity situation.  This  is  the  fact  that  we  are  here 
dealing  with  a  problem  that  not  only  presents 


210  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

perplexing  difficulties  in  the  way  of  an  equitable 
adjustment  of  public  and  private  interests  in 
the  future,  but  even  more  serious  and  puzzling 
difficulties,  in  connection  with  existing  fran- 
chises. The  difficulty  lies  in  the  fact  that 
throughout  the  country  there  are  many  per- 
petual and  irrevocable  franchises  in  force.  No 
satisfactory  method  has  yet  been  devised  to 
force  companies  enjoying  such  franchises  to 
comply  with  public  demands  for  extensions  or 
improved  service.  It  has  come  to  be  generally 
recognized  that  the  granting  of  perpetual  fran- 
chises is  bad  public  policy.  It  is  equally  well 
recognized  that  the  existence  of  perpetual  non- 
revocable  franchises  is  a  constant  menace  to 
the  present  and  future  welfare  of  the  cities  or 
to  any  satisfactory  or  permanent  adjustment 
that  will  assure  adequate  regulation  and  rea- 
sonable service.  The  question  is  what  to  do 
about  it.    So  far  it  has  not  been  settled. 

Such  a  problem  would  be  comparatively  sim- 
ple in  Europe,  where  franchises  are  looked  upon 
as  mere  licenses  revocable  at  the  will  of  the 
authority  that  granted  them.  In  the  United 
States  the  situation  is  made  more  difficult  by 
the  existence  of  constitutional  provisions  for- 
bidding the  impairment  of  the  obligation  of  con- 
tract or  the  taking  of  property  without  due 


Public  Utilities  211 

process  of  law.  The  tendency  of  onr  courts  is 
to  construe  franchises  as  virtually  contracts 
between  the  city  and  the  corporation.  This  im- 
poses a  serious  obstacle  in  the  way  of  a  solu- 
tion -of  the  problem.  On  this  subject  the  Com- 
mittee on  Franchises  of  the  National  Munici- 
pal League  in  its  report  for  1913  says : 

**In  our  opinion  it  is  essential  to  the  proper 
development  of  the  utilities  of  any  city  and  to 
the  full  realization  of  the  principles  of  public 
control  that  in  all  cases  where  the  outstanding 
franchises  run  in  perpetuity,  or  for  unreason- 
ably long  periods,  the  city  should  definitely  set 
about  devising  means  for  recapturing  them. 
We  think  that  the  municipal  and  state  authori- 
ties are  justified  in  using  legislation,  litigation, 
taxation,  negotiation,  and  all  other  available 
means  to  secure  the  termination  of  perpetual 
and  very  long  term  franchises,  and  to  compel  a 
readjustment  of  outstanding  rights  on  the  basis 
of  thorough-going  protection  of  the  investment 
under  the  terms  of  new  franchises  which  will 
recover  to  the  city  the  control  vitally  necessary 
to  its  future  welfare.'' 

The  idea  of  municipal  ownership  does  not 
today  inspire  so  much  dread  in  the  conserva- 
tive mind  as  it  once  did.  This  is  not  the  place 
to  discuss  the  principles  involved  in  the  propo- 
sition, even  if  it  were  possible  to  do  so  in  brief 
compass.   It  will  not  even  be  attempted  to  argue 


212  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

the  practical  issues  involved  save  in  so  far  as 
they  have  a  more  or  less  direct  bearing  on  the 
problem  of  a  city's  powers  to  run  its  own  af- 
fairs in  a  manner  calculated  to  be  of  the  great- 
est service  to  its  inhabitants.  Whether  a  city 
ought  to  undertake  the  responsibilities  of  mu- 
nicipal ownership  and  operation  of  its  public 
service  agencies,  and  on  what  terms,  is  a 
question  that  must  be  considered  in  the  light 
of  the  peculiar  needs  and  conditions,  financial 
and  otherwise,  of  each  individual  city. 

But  there  are  certain  aspects  of  the  problem 
that  have  a  direct  relationship  to  the  subject  of 
municipal  home  rule,  and  as  such  cannot  be 
disregarded. 

Of  these  the  most  pressing,  perhaps,  is  that 
which  may  be  considered,  if  you  will,  as  a  first 
step  toward  municipal  ownership,  namely,  the 
inclusion  in  every  franchise  granted  of  provis- 
ions for  the  recapture  of  the  franchise  by  the 
city  and  the  terms  on  which  the  corporate  prop- 
erty may  be  acquired.  In  the  light  of  the  more 
intelligent  consideration  of  all  franchise  ques- 
tions, and  the  movement  for  short  term  fran- 
chises or  indeterminate  franchises  revocable 
under  stated  conditions  after  a  certain  time 
has  elapsed,  the  subject  of  the  terms  on  which 
cities  may  acquire  municipal  utilities  has  re- 


Public  Utilities  213 

ceived  mucli  consideration.  We  shall  here 
merely  emphasize  the  point  that  provisions  in 
the  state  law  should  make  possible  the  inclusion 
in  municipal  franchises  of  the  conditions  and 
terms  under  which  local  public  utilities  may  be 
acquired  by  the  city.  There  will  always  be  ob- 
vious limitations  in  the  way  of  the  practical  ap- 
plication of  this  program,  but  they  should  be 
financial  difficulties  only,  and  not  in  any  way 
limitations  on  the  right  and  power  of  the  city 
to  act  if  it  is  financially  in  a  position  to  do  so. 
Likewise,  provision  should  be  made  in  law 
whereby  a  city  which  is  financially  able,  may 
construct  and  operate  a  public  utility  of  its 
own.  On  this  question  of  the  importance  of  con- 
ferring on  municipalities  the  power  to  carry  out 
such  a  program.  President  Frank  J.  Goodnow 
declares : 


*^If  there  is  one  point  in  this  matter  upon 
which  the  opinion  of  the  European  world  is 
practically  decisive,  it  is  that  cities  should  have 
the  power  under  proper  limitations  to  enter 
upon  the  field  of  municipal  ownership  and  oper- 
ation. *  *  *  The  importance  of  the  posses- 
sion of  this  power  by  the  municipalities  can 
hardly  be  overestimated.  For  the  knowledge 
on  the  part  of  the  private  companies  that  the 
power  can,  and  the  fear  that  it  will,  in  an  ex- 
tremity, be  exercised,  are  most  effective  in  se- 


214  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

curing  from  private  companies  about  to  oper- 
ate or  operating  public  utilities,  tbe  adoption  of 
a  policy  which  has  regard  for  the  important 
public  and  social  interests  at  stake.  Where  this 
power  does  not  exist  companies  are  apt  to  con- 
sider that  they  are  conducting  a  merely  private 
business ;  and  in  the  case  of  these  public  utili- 
ties private  interest  and  public  need  are  often  in 
conflict.  (Goodnow,  ** Municipal  Government," 
p.  360.) 


Comparatively  few  opponents  of  municipal 
ownership  and  control  base  their  argument 
today  on  the  socialistic  aspects  of  the  proposal. 
The  experience  of  cities  in  operating  water-sup- 
ply systems  and  many  other  agencies  of  a 
public  service  character,  has  become  so  familiar 
and  has  proceeded  on  the  whole  with  so  little 
disturbance  of  existing  political  or  economic 
conditions,  that  a  further  extension  of  city  au- 
thority cannot  be  successfully  fought  merely  by 
conjuring  up  the  bugaboo  of  municipal  social- 
ism. They  are  content  to  rest  their  opposition 
on  more  practical  grounds  in  which  they  empha- 
size particularly  the  financial  and  administra- 
tive difficulties  involved.  The  experience  of 
European  cities  is  sighted  both  for  and  against 
the  proposition.  Many  opponents  of  municipal 
ownership  deny  that  any  reliance  can  be  placed 


Public  Utilities  215 

on  such  experience  on  the  ground  that  it  is 
wholly  impossible  to  compare  conditions  so  es- 
sentially dissimilar  as  those  under  which  the 
affairs  of  European  and  American  cities  are 
managed.  Into  this  controversy  there  is  no 
necessity  for  us  to  enter,  for  we  are  considering 
here,  it  must  be  recollected,  primarily  the  sub- 
ject of  adequate  municipal  powers. 

An  objection  often  raised  to  conferring  on 
municipalities  the  right  to  control  or  own 
and  operate  public  utilities,  is  that  the  people 
of  a  city  cannot  be  trusted  to  carry  on  such  an 
important  work  and  that  all  the  people  of  the 
state  are  concerned  to  see  that  the  city  shall  not 
bankrupt  itself  or  establish  dangerous  prece- 
dence by  its  action.  It  is  held  that  the  self-in- 
terest of  a  city  often  precludes  it  from  consider- 
ing such  matters  without  prejudice  or  of  acting 
fairly  or  even  reasonably  in  respect  to  them. 
Every  true  advocate  of  municipal  home  rule 
must  demur  to  such  a  broad  indictment.  He 
will  admit  that  in  rare  cases  city  authorities 
may  overstep  the  proper  bound,  or  that  a  popu- 
lar outburst  may  result  in  a  false  step  being 
taken.  But  these  will  be  exceptions  that  will 
prove  danger  signals  for  other  cities.  They  do 
not  in  themselves  constitute  a  valid  objection  to 
the   general   proposition.     And,   furthermore, 


216  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

there  is  no  reason  why  the  restrictions  of  a  state 
law,  may  not  to  a  considerable  extent,  be  made 
to  minimize  or  prevent  such  lapses  on  the  part 
of  the  city  authorities.  Indeed,  the  laws  of  most 
states  throw  limitations  about  municipal  expen- 
ditures that  have  proved  effective  in  deterring 
cities  from  bankrupting  themselves.  Moreover, 
the  progress  of  the  past  decade  in  the  direction 
of  a  fixed  responsibility  for  municipal  officers, 
which  has  been  one  of  the  striking  features  of 
the  municipal  reformation,  must  in  itself  act  as 
a  deterrent  to  rash  action  on  the  part  of  a  city. 
This  change  will  be  strengthened  by  the  preva- 
lence of  the  new  municipal  spirit  which  means 
that  cities  are,  as  a  rule,  pretty  wide  awake 
where  the  question  of  their  rights  and  responsi- 
bilities is  concerned.  Under  such  circum- 
stances, there  is  little  reason  to  contend  that 
the  state  must  step  in  if  the  city  is  to  be  saved 
from  itself. 

Equally  important  in  its  bearing  on  the  sub- 
ject we  are  discussing  is  the  question  of  munici- 
pal administration  and  the  civil  service.  So 
long  as  party  politics  play  a  controlling  part 
in  city  affairs  there  will  exist  an  effective  and 
logical  argument  against  the  munipical  owner- 
ship of  public  utilities.  In  no  activity  in  which 
a  city  might  conceivably  engage  is  it  more  im- 


Public  Utilities  217 

portant  that  it  be  kept  free  from  partisan  po- 
litical interference  than  public  utilities.  The 
existence  of  a  civil  service  on  a  partisan  and  not 
a  merit  basis  would  be  an  insuperable  obstacle. 
No  city  could  contemplate  with  complacency  the 
multiplication  of  municipal  jobs  which  should 
require  expert  or  professional  training  but 
which  would  be  filled  on  the  basis  of  service  to  a 
political  party.  Too  often  public  service  prob- 
lems have  been  made  political ;  too  often  public 
service  corporations  have  been  **in  politics." 
It  would  be  unthinkable  if  the  public  employees 
engaged  in  operating  public  utilities  were  also 
to  remain  ^4n  politics."  The  development  of 
the  merit  system  has  raised  the  hope  of  friends 
of  municipal  ownership.  Gradually  cities  are 
moving  in  the  direction  of  the  municipalization 
of  water  and  lighting  systems,  garbage  disposal 
plants  and  so  forth.  And  as  the  feasibility  of 
operating  these  municipal  activities  through 
employees  chosen  on  a  merit  basis  is  being 
proved,  the  further  step  of  applying  it  to  trac- 
tion lines  is  receiving  more  serious  considera- 
tion and  does  not  appear  to  be  so  wholly 
impossible  as  it  did  some  time  back. 

From  the  standpoint  of  adequate  municipal 
home  rule,  therefore,  it  seems  clear  that  certain 
points  in  connection  with  the  problem  of  mu- 


218  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

nicipal  public  service  utilities  are  fairly  definite. 
Admitting  that  there  should  be  a  certain  degree 
of  state  control  and  regulation  of  public  service 
corporations  in  respect  to  those  functions  that 
can  best  be  regulated  in  a  uniform  manner  by  a 
state  board  acting  under  a  general  state  law 
applicable  alike  to  all  cities,  it,  nevertheless, 
seems  evident  that  in  respect  to  certain  matters 
in  which  from  their  nature  the  city  alone  can 
have  concern,  the  city  authorities  should  retain 
a  definite  measure  of  final  authority.  A  city 
endowed  with  home-rule  powers  should  be  able 
to  determine  for  itself  what  the  character  of 
service  shall  be  and  on  what  terms  franchises 
shall  be  granted  and  on  what  terms  a  public 
utility  may  be  recaptured.  It  should  have  the 
power  to  exercise  its  authority  if  it  chooses 
through  a  local  regulatory  board,  from  which 
in  certain  matters,  an  appeal  would  lie  to  a 
state  commission.  Furthermore,  a  city  should 
be  able,  if  it  so  desires,  to  enter  the  field  of 
municipal  ownership  and  operation,  under  such 
restrictions  and  limitations  as  a  state  law  might 
impose.  No  state  law  should  prohibit  such  an 
extension  of  municipal  powers,  purely  home 
rule  in  character,  nor  should  handicaps  be 
placed  in  the  way  of  a  city's  paving  the  way  for 
such  a  move  by  insisting  on  provisions  for  re- 


Public  Utilities  219 

capture  or  acquisition  under  proper  conditions 
of  any  franchise  it  grants  to  a  private  public 
service  corporation. 


CHAPTER  XI 


MUNICIPAL  FINANCE 


No  one  principle  is  more  essential  to  a  proper 
application  of  the  theory  of  municipal  home 
rnle  than  that  which  demands  that  a  city  shall 
have  control  of  its  own  budget  and  its  own  pay- 
roll. Yet  in  practice  in  our  American  cities  no 
one  principle  has  been  more  frequently  ignored 
or  more  flagrantly  violated.  In  this  matter  of 
city  finances,  as  in  most  matters  pertaining  to 
municipal  ai^airs  and  government,  we  began 
with  a  wrong  conception  of  what  a  city  was.  It 
might  be  even  more  accurate  to  say  that  we 
began  with  no  conception  whatever  of  a  city's 
place  in  our  scheme  of  government,  of  its  obli- 
gations to  its  inhabitants,  or  its  possibilities  of 
service  to  those  that  dwelt  within  its  limits. 

Little  realizing  what  a  considerable  part  of 
the  burdens  of  life  and  government  must  in  the 
future  be  carried  of  necessity  not  by  the  state 
or  the  nation,  but  by  the  city,  our  fathers 
treated  the  city  as  a  mere  irresponsible  child. 

220 


Municipal  Finance  221 

The  needs  of  cities  were  simple  then;  it  took 
but  little  money  to  run  them.  It  was  sufficient 
that  they  get  along  on  such  resources  as  were 
left  after  the  paramount  requirements  of  the 
state  or  nation  had  been  satisfied.  Under  such 
circumstances  it  is  not  remarkable  that  the 
cities  themselves  felt  no  sense  of  responsibility. 
Nor  is  it  remarkable  that  it  took  them  a  century 
and  more  to  begin  to  appreciate  either  their  op- 
portunities or  their  obligations.  When  they  did 
awaken  to  these  facts  it  was  too  late.  The  evil 
had  been  done,  and  it  is  only  by  slow  stages, 
and  the  most  intelligent  and  unremitting  effort 
that  cities  are  able  to  attain  a  fair  degree  of 
financial  independence  and  autonomy. 

The  gravest  of  these  evils  which  have  been 
fastened  on  the  cities  is  primarily  political.  It 
established  and  has  continued  the  principle  of 
state  control  of  municipal  finances  through  the 
agency  of  the  legislature,  which  has  placed 
many  of  the  cities  of  the  country  on  the  plane 
of  captured  provinces  to  be  exploited  and  bled 
for  the  benefit,  not  so  much  of  the  state  itself 
as  in  the  interest  of  the  particular  political 
party  which  happened  to  control  the  legislature. 
Thus  municipal  finances  have  frequently 
been  made  a  football  of  state  politics.  Freed 
entirely  in  most  instances  from  such  constitu- 


222  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

tional  restrictions  as  a  home-rnle  provision  in 
the  constitution  would  impose,  legislatures  liave 
gone  on  their  way,  adding  to  the  financial  bur- 
den of  cities  by  the  enactment  of  all  sorts  of 
onerous,  special  local  laws  and  anti-home  rule 
mandatory  payroll  legislation,  and  at  the  same 
time  have  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  the  constant 
pleadings  of  the  cities  for  relief.  They  have 
not  only  denied  relief,  but  in  one  way  and 
another  they  have  deprived  the  cities  of  the 
right  to  solve  their  own  problems  and  have 
given  them  nothing  to  recompense  them  for 
what  they  have  taken.  If  it  could  be  said  that 
all  this  was  done  ^\dth  the  end  in  view  of  safe- 
guarding some  great  principle  of  government, 
there  might  be  at  least  some  excuse  for  it.  But 
legislatures,  with  few  exceptions,  have  not 
sho^Ti  the  smallest  appreciation  of  the  necessity 
of  providing  for  the  growing  needs  of  cities, 
either  by  their  own  action  or  through  confer- 
ring adequate  powers  on  cities. 

The  second  great  evil  that  our  cities  are  suf- 
fering from  financially  today,  is  the  prodigality 
of  the  authorities  in  earlier  days  in  giving  away 
rights  and  property  which  might  now  be  very 
considerable  sources  of  municipal  revenue.  As 
a  rule,  these  have  consisted  in  the  bestowal  of 
invaluable  franchises  in  perpetuity.    Not  only 


Municipal  Finance  223 

did  cities  deprive  themselves  of  the  right  to 
take  over  and  manage  these  properties,  but  as 
a  rule  they  made  no  provisions  whatever  for  a 
fixed  revenue  in  return  for  the  grant.  Thus  a 
perfectly  legitimate  and  natural  source  of  mu- 
nicipal income  has  been  lost  in  many  cities  for 
all  time  to  come.* 

The  extraordinary  increase  in  urban  popula- 
tion has  forced  on  cities  the  imperative  neces- 
sity of  meeting  new  conditions  either  by  the 
creation  of  new  agencies  of  municipal  service 
or  by  the  expansion  of  existing  agencies.  All 
this  required  money.  As  a  result  the  cost  of 
running  cities  has  been  annually  mounting 
higher  and  higher,  until  the  question  of  how  to 
make  both  ends  meet  has  become  the  most  press- 
ing of  all  municipal  problems.  If  a  city  failed 
to  find  the  way  out  its  municipal  service  was 
apt  to  be  crippled;  if  it  went  ahead  and  pro- 
vided the  service  without  carefully  counting 
the  cost,  the  city  finances  were  crippled.  Thus 
it  would  frequently  happen  that  the  adoption  of 
either  alternative  became  a  serious  obstacle  to 


*  Most  franchises  now  granted  do,  to  be  sure,  provide 
for  some  adequate  return  in  the  shape  of  an  annual  rental 
or  a  percentage  of  gross  income.  What  European  cities 
have  gained  from  the  retention  of  public  service  income 
may  be  seen  in  the  fact  that  some  German  cities  derive 
as  much  as  thirty  per  cent  of  their  income  from  such 
sources,  while  the  similar  income  of  English  cities  fre- 
c^uently  exceeds  twenty  per  cent  of  their  total  revenues. 


224  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

real  municipal  progress.  Some  of  this  increase 
in  expenditure  can  b^  charged  to  outright  ex- 
travagance, some  to  recklessness  and  the 
lack  of  a  proper  sense  of  responsibility  on  the 
part  of  city  officials,  some  to  a  needless 
duplication  of  effort  due  to  poorly  organized 
departments  or  to  antiquated  methods  of  doing 
business,  some  to  inefficiency  and  lack  of*  under- 
standing of  municipal  problems  and  a  great  deal 
to  the  interference  or  exploitation  of  political 
parties. 

But  when  due  allowance  is  made  for  all  these 
unnecessary  elements  it  must  be  admitted  that 
by  far  the  greater  part  of  the  extraordinary 
increase  in  municipal  expenditures  in  recent 
years  is  unavoidable,  and  must  be  accepted  as 
a  just  obligation  if  cities  are  to  live  up  to  the 
highest  ideal  of  effective  public  service.  The 
waste  and  extravagance  due  to  inefficiency  and 
politics  can  be  and  must  be  eliminated.  They 
are  fatal  obstacles  to  progress.  The  increases 
due  to  an  attempt  to  satisfy  growing  municipal 
needs  represent  progress.  The  city  of  today  is 
called  upon  to  serve  not  only  the  people  living 
within  its  limits,  but  also  all  those  who  carry 
on  business  within  its  limits,  in  a  multitude  of 
ways  of  which  the  cities  of  even  two  generations 
ago  had  but  the  vaguest  conception.    It  is  this 


Municipal  Finance  225 

expansion  of  the  idea  of  municipal  service  in 
its  broader  meaning,  comprehending  problems 
of  rapid  transit,  water  supply  and  lighting,  pub- 
lic health,  vocational  education,  recreations  and 
institutional  help,  that  has  brought  cities  to  a 
realization  that  sources  of  revenue  which  met 
the  requirements  of  an  older  day  were  wholly 
inadequate  to  meet  the  new  demands,  and  which 
has  set  municipal  financiers  figuring  on  ways 
and  means  whereby  they  may  tap  new  sources 
of  revenue  and  thus  not  only  supply  growing 
municipal  need  but  bring  about  a  more  equitable 
adjustment  of  the  burdens  of  taxation. 

The  elimination  of  these  simpler  and  on  the 
whole  lesser  difficulties  is  not  only  possible  but 
it  is  being  rapidly  accomplished.  They  are  all 
primarily  problems  of  administration*.  Experts 
with  the  aid  of  surveys  and  other  special  agen- 
cies are  disclosing  these  evils,  and  pointing  out 
practical  remedies.  The  newly  awakened  civic 
spirit  is  doing  the  rest  by  insisting  on  a  higher 
ideal  of  public  service,  and  a  higher  type  of  pub- 
lic servant.  Extravagance,  corruption  and 
waste  are  being  checked  or  eliminated  by 
greater  publicity,  and  by  the  fixing  of  respon- 
sibility therefor.  Politics  in  its  partisan  sense, 
is  being  forced  into  a  place  in  cities  where  it  can 
at  least  do  less  harm  than  formerly.    New  meth- 


226  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

ods  of  accounting  and  bookkeeping,  reorganiza- 
tion of  departments  to  prevent  duplication  of 
effort  and  over-lapping  of  functions,  standard- 
ization of  salaries,  efficient  methods  of  city  pur- 
chasing, are  all  helping  to  eliminate  these  evils 
from  consideration. 

In  this  movement  there  is  increasing  evidence 
that  the  politicians  have  recognized  the  power 
of  the  awakened  civic  spirit.  They  know  that 
the  experience  of  history  teaches  that  there  is 
no  point  in  regard  to  which  a  people  are  more 
apt  to  show  concern  than  in  the  pa^onent  of 
taxes.  Whether  or  not  politicians  have  realized 
— and  some  of  them  surely  have  done  so — that 
business  and  politics  do  not  ge.t  along  well  to- 
gether in  the  administration  of  municipalities, 
they  have  certainly  recognized  the  benefits  that 
will  accrue  from  the  elimination  of  the  danger 
of  making  a  political  issue  of  an  increased  tax 
rate  that  is  due  to  inefficient  administration  for 
which  the  representatives  of  their  party  may 
be  held  to  account  by  the  voters. 

But  with  all  these  difficulties  solved  or  on  the 
way  to  solution,  there  still  remains  and  must 
always  remain  the  great  problem  of  adjusting 
municipal  expenditure  to  constantly  growing 
municipal  needs.  Any  good  housekeeper  ought 
to  have  a  fairly  adequate  idea  of  what  the  ex- 


Municipal  Finance  227 

penses  of  running  her  establishment  for  a  given 
period  are  likely  to  be  and  what  her  income  is 
for  the  same  period.  If  she  is  careful  she  will 
adjust  these  expenditures  to  the  amount  of  her 
income.  If  she  loses  control  over  her  household 
budget,  she  finds  herself  involved  in  a  serious 
problem  to  make  ends  meet.  It  is  exactly  the 
same  with  the  city.  If  a  city  controls  its  budget 
that  city  is  much  more  apt  to  be  sound  finan- 
cially than  one  whose  budget  may  be  unexpect- 
edly increased  to  an  extraordinary  amount 
by  mandatory  anti-home  rule  legislation,  so 
commonly  indulged  in  by  state  legisla- 
tures. State  legislatures  have  always  seemed 
to  have  a  strange  itching  to  meddle  with 
budgets  of  rich  and  populous  cities.  Some- 
times this  meddling  takes  the  form  of  a 
special  law  imposing  a  payroll  increase  on  an 
individual  city,  sometimes  in  legislation  of  a 
more  general  nature,  mandatorily  forcing  on 
cities  of  a  certain  size  or  class,  general  state 
laws  requiring  expenditures  that  swell  the  mu- 
nicipal budgets,  Avithout  the  least  consideration 
of  whether  or  not  the  cities  can  stand  the  strain. 
The  one  sort  of  interference  has  just  as  disas- 
trous an  effect  on  the  city  budget  as  the  other. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  under  our  existing 
legislative  system,  it  is  rather  easier  to  pass 


228  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

special  mandatory  payroll  legislation  for  a  sin- 
gle city  than  similar  legislation  applicable  to  all 
or  a  certain  part  of  the  cities  in  the  state.  The 
wide-spread  protest  in  the  latter  case,  will,  in  a 
majority  of  instances,  defeat  the  proposition. 
A  proper  consideration  for  the  home-rnle  rights 
of  cities,  therefore,  would  involve  an  absolute 
constitutional  prohibition  of  special  mandatory 
payroll  legislation,  leaving  it  to  the  alertness 
and  watchfulness  of  municipal  authorities  and 
taxpayers  to  see  to  it  that  no  vicious  legislation 
in  the  form  of  general  statutes  is  enacted. 

It  is  difficult  for  a  city  to  go  very  far  in  the 
direction  of  a  municipal  budget  without  ade- 
quate home  rule  powers.  The  plans  of  the  most 
careful  municipal  financiers  can  be  nullified  in 
a  day  by  the  caprice  of  a  state  legislature  act- 
ing without  adequate  knowledge  and  frequently 
for  purely  partisan  or  factional  reasons.  A 
municipal  budget  is  wholly  the  concern  of  the 
city.  It  affords  an  opportunity  for  municipal 
orientation.  It  is  the  point  at  which  the  city 
administrators  take  the  taxpayers  into  their 
confidence  and  consider  with  them  a  definite 
plan  of  expenditures  for  the  year  to  come. 
There  is  a  sort  of  a  family  conference  among 
the  municipal  housekeepers.  The  scrutiny  of 
the  proposals  and  estimates  of  available  reve- 


Municipal  Finance  229 

nues  for  the  coming  year,  the  necessity  for 
giving  reasons  for  things  and  providing  facts 
and  figures  to  back  up  these  reasons,  and 
through  it  all  the  healthy  publicity  that  all  this 
entails,  help  to  make  the  municipal  budget  sys- 
tem an  important  instrumentality  in  municipal 
home  rule.  Furthermore,  the  presentation  of 
the  budget  proposals  by  the  city  authorities  af- 
fords the  best  opportunity  for  a  discussion  of 
matters  of  public  policy  affecting  the  munici- 
pality. At  such  a  time  should  be  clearly 
thrashed  out  the  arguments  for  and  against 
important  propositions  that  are  too  often  left 
to  be  picked  up  by  a  political  party  merely  be- 
cause the  backers  of  that  party  are  seeking  some 
municipal  campaign  issue.  The  discussion  of 
these  problems  at  such  a  time — problems  that 
are  primarily  administrative  or  financial  rather 
than  political — will  serve  to  prevent  their  being 
used  as  political  footballs. 

One  point  on  which  there  has  been  some  radi- 
cal difference  of  opinion  is  the  extent  to  which 
a  city  can  be  trusted  to  take  care  of  its  finances. 
It  has  been  a  pretty  well  established  practice 
in  the  United  States  to  provide  constitutional 
or  statutory  limitations  on  the  power  of  cities 
to  incur  indebtedness.  This  is  clearly  a  limita- 
tion on  the  home  rule  power  of  cities,  but  it  has 


230  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

proved  and  doubtless  will  continue  to  be  consid- 
ered an  entirely  justifiable  and  effective  check 
on  municipal  extravagance.  There  are  fre- 
quently times  when  a  municipal  administration 
imbued  with  an  ambition  to  **make  a  show- 
ing" for  political  or  personal  advantage, 
develops  a  tendency  to  embark  on  a  career  of 
financial  extravagance  that  would  virtually 
bankrupt  the  city.  Such  tendencies  must  be 
checked.  It  is  not  enough  to  say  that  it  is  a 
city's  own  fault  if  it  allows  its  administration 
to  put  it  in  such  a  position.  It  is  a  matter  of 
concern  not  alone  to  the  city  itself  or  to  those 
people  who  might  directly  or  indirectly  profit 
by  the  municipal  improvements  undertaken.  It 
is  a  matter  of  concern  to  the  whole  state  that 
its  cities  shall  not  be  bankrupt  and  that  their 
financial  soundness  may  be  unquestioned.  It 
is  a  matter  further  of  concern  to  future  genera- 
tions who  must  live  in  the  city  that  they  shall 
not  be  called  on  to  pay  for  the  reckless  extrava- 
gance and  prodigality  of  those  who  came  before 
them.  It  is  of  particular  concern  that  they  shall 
not  be  compelled  to  pay  for  improvements  that 
have  benefited  a  past  generation  and  have  been 
outlived  or  outworn. 

A  constitutional  check  on  the  power  of  a  city 
to  incur  debts  may,  therefore,  be  considered  as 


Municipal  Finance  231 

one  of  the  necessary  and  justifia-ble  limitations 
on  municipal  home  rule.  Then,  again,  there 
should  be  limitations  on  the  power  of  a  city  to 
become  indebted  through  bond  issues  extending 
ibver  such  a  long  term  that  the  improvement  for 
which  they  were  issued  shall  have  been  outlived. 
Bonds  should  not  be  issued  for  a  period  longer 
than  the  life  of  the  improvements  for  which  they 
were  intended. 

Furthermore,  the  responsibility  for  the  is- 
suance of  bonds  should  not  rest  entirely — cer- 
tainly not  in  the  case  of  large  bond  issues — on 
the  city  authorities.  While  it  is  pei*fectly  pos- 
sible to  hold  the  city  officials  responsible  and 
punish  them  or  their  party  for  their  actions 
should  they  again  become  candidates  for  office, 
such  retribution  would  come  too  late.  For  the 
bonds  once  issued  naturally  become  an  obliga- 
tion binding  on  the  city  no  matter  how  much 
opposition  there  may  have  been  to  their  issue 
originally.  With  a  view  to  providing  an  addi- 
tional check  it  is  frequently  required  that  bond 
issues  shall  be  submitted  to  a  referendum.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  ref erendums  on  bond  issues  in 
some  states  have  been  common  practice  for 
many  years.  They  have  fully  justified  them- 
selves in  operation.  It  is  probably  better  that 
they  should  be  a  matter  of  general  state  law 


232  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

applicable  to  all  cities,  rather  than  be  left  to 
the  provisions  of  a  city  charter. 

In  order  to  provide  for  the  payment  of  a  bond 
issue  at  maturity,  it  has  been  customary  to 
create  sinking  funds  in  order  that  the  amount 
of  the  principal  may  be  distributed  over  a  pe- 
riod of  years.  Kecently,  however,  the  disclosure 
of  certain  facts  in  connection  with  the  wasteful- 
ness of  sinking  funds  and  their  inequable 
operation  have  led  financiers  to  favor  the 
issuance  of  bonds  in  serial  form.  This  form  of 
bond  issues  has  many  advantages  over  the  sink- 
ing fund  systems.  It  is  safer  and  more  equable 
and  cheaper.  It  is  never  possible  to  determine 
absolutely  the  necessary  annual  contribution 
to  a  sinking  fund.  The  fund  itself  fluctuates 
with  the  change  in  interest  rates.  Frequently, 
the  accumulations  are  unnecessarily  large. 
Sometimes  they  prove  inadequate.*  Bonds  is- 
sued in  serial  form  become  payable,  principal 
and  interest  alike,  in  equal  annual  instalments. 
A  twenty  year  bond  issue,  for  instance,  would  be 
payable  one-twentieth  each  year.    The  interest 


*  Figures  from  a  report  on  the  condition  of  Massachu- 
sett's  municipal  sinking  funds  (1912)  showed  that  in  forty 
of  the  eighty-five  municipalities,  examined  there  was  an 
apparent  failure  to  provide  adequately  for  the  payment  of 
the  debt  at  maturity.  The  deficiency  in  these  funds  alone 
was  computed  at  $1,794,391.  (See  article  by  C.  F.  Gettemy, 
director  of  Massachusetts  Bureau  of  Statistics  in  "Na- 
tional  Municipal   Review,"   Oct.,    1914,   Vol.   Ill,   No.  4.) 


Municipal  Finance  233 

would  be  chargeable  only  on  .that  portion  of  the 
principal  remaining  unpaid.  At  the  end  of  ten 
years,  therefore,  the  outstanding  principal 
would  be  but  one-half  of  the  original  amount 
and  the  interest  would  be  payable  only  on  .that 
one-half.  In  the  mere  matter  of  interest  rates, 
therefore,  if  the  bond  issues  are  of  considerable 
size  the  saving  to  the  city  is  enormous. 

Sinking  funds,  furthermore,  must  be  placed  in 
charge  of  some  individual  or  board  for  invest- 
ment. There  is  an  opportimity  here  for 
malfeasance  or  misfeasance  in  office.  Sinking 
funds  have  been  knoA\Ti  to  disappear  completely. 
They  are  open  to  peculation  and  embezzlement. 
The  officials  having  them  in  charge  have  shown 
a  too  frequent  tendency  to  invest  them  as  a  mat- 
ter of  political  favor,  either  with  banks 
controlled  by  their  political  friends  or  in  such 
a  way  as  to  benefit  politicians  or  parties  rather 
than  the  public.  There  is  no  such  danger  in 
the  case  of  serial  bond  issues. 

Finally,  the  serial  bond  system  tends  to  re- 
move a  tendency  toward  irresponsibility  on  the 
part  of  municipal  authorities  in  incurring  the 
debt.  The  sinking  fund  system  enables  a  city 
administration  to  throw  over  all  responsibility 
for  the  payment  of  the  principal  on  a  future 
administration  or  a  future  generation.    All  it 


234  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

has  to  concern  itseK  with  is  meeting  the 
first  year's  interest  charge.  If  a  city  adminis- 
tration is  compelled,  as  it  would  be  under  the 
serial  bond  system,  to  find  a  way  of  making 
appropriations  to  meet  the  first  payment  of  its 
principal  within  a  year  after  issue,  it  is  likely 
to  be  more  careful  in  incurring  debts  through 
bond  issues. 

So  important  has  it  seemed  to  experts  in 
municipal  finance  that  the  danger  of  sinking 
funds  should  be  entirely  eliminated  that  steps 
have  recently  been  taken  in  several  states  to 
prohibit  their  establishment.  This  was  done 
by  a  statute  in  Massachusetts,  which  took  effect 
in  1914,  in  which  it  was  provided  that  hence- 
forth all  municipal  bond  issues  should  be  in  se- 
rial form.  An  attempt  to  apply  the  same  restric- 
tions to  New  York's  cities  with  a  limitation  of 
fifty  years  on  the  bond  issue  and  provision  that 
it  should  not  run  for  a  longer  period  than  the 
life  of  the  improvement,  was  made  a  part  of 
the  defeated  constitution  of  1915. 

There  ought  to  be  no  obstacles  in  the  way  of 
cities  adopting  and  putting  into  operation  new 
methods  of  accounting  and  auditing.  With  such 
reforms  there  should  go  improvement  in  the 
municipal  machinery  necessary  for  the  prepara- 
tion of  an  annual  budget  or  financial  plan.    Pro- 


Municipal  Finance  23S 

vision  should  also  be  made  for  a  standardization 
of  offices  and  salaries,  and  for  a  central 
department  or  bureau  of  purchasing.  It  ought 
not  to  be  necessary  for  any  city  to  go  to  the 
state  legislature  for  permission  to  inaugurate 
purely  administrative  reforms  of  this  sort. 
Where  no  charter  changes  are  required  many 
cities  probably  have  the  power  to  take  these 
steps  today.  This  does  not  mean,  however,  that 
it  may  not  be  both  helpful  and  advisable  to 
have  the  legislature  by  general  law  regulate 
these  matters  for  all  the  cities  of  a  state.  Just 
as  the  statutory  or  constitutional  restriction  on 
the  borrowing  power  of  cities  has  been  found 
to  work  well,  and  to  be  no  more  than  a  justi- 
fiable check  on  municipal  expenditures,  so  a 
general  state  law  providing  for  adequate  and 
measurable  uniformity  in  municipal  account- 
ing and  auditing  would  doubtless  have  the  effect 
of  forcing  backward  or  careless  cities  to  safe- 
guard their  expenditures  for  their  own  good. 
Such  a  law  would  no  wise  imperil  the  principle 
of  municipal  home  rule. 

A  great  many  financiers  believe  that  there 
has  been  altogether  too  strong  a  tendency  in 
American  cities  to  have  recourse  to  bond  issues 
for  the  payment  of  all  sorts  of  debts.  This  has 
led  to  the  belief  on  the  part  of  many  city  au- 


236  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

thorities  that  the  city  could  bear  almost  any 
burden  of  debt  so  long  as  its  bonds  were  prop- 
erly amortized.  Bonds  are  frequently  issued, 
within  such  limitations  as  the  state  law  or  con- 
stitution may  prescribe,  for  all  sorts  of  things. 
They  have  been  issued  not  only  for  revenue 
producing  improvements,  but  for  non-revenue 
producing  improvements ;  not  only  for  perman- 
ent improvement,  but  for  temporary  improve- 
ments and  for  special  purposes  and  current 
expenses  that  did  not  fall  under  the  head  of 
public  improvements  at  all.  Furthermore,  there 
had  grown  up  in  many  cities  the  dangerous 
practice  of  issuing  bonds  for  the  purpose  of 
meeting  other  bonds  at  maturity.  Thus  fre- 
quently was  extended  indefinitely  the  payment 
not  only  of  bonds  for  permanent  improvements, 
but  of  those  issued  for  meeting  current  expenses 
or  in  anticipation  of  the  collection  of  revenue. 
As  a  result  of  this  procedure  the  bonded  in- 
debtedness of  our  cities  is  enormous.  Many 
believe  it  to  be  needlessly  large  and  insist  that 
its  existence  constitutes  a  constantly  growing 
menace  to  the  creation  of  any  system  of  sound 
municipal  finance. 

The  extent  to  which  this  sort  of  thing  has 
been  going  on  has  indicated  a  woeful  lack  of 
understanding  of  municipal  finance  and  a  total 


Municipal  Finance  237 

lack  of  appreciation  of  municipal  responsibility. 
The  point  of  view  is  similar  to  that  of  the 
advocates  of  fiat  money.  To  the  query  **How 
are  we  going  to  get  the  money?"  their  reply 
would  be,  **  Start  the  government  printing 
presses."  So  to  the  question,  **How  will  the 
city  pay  for  this  f  the  bland  reply  has  too  often 
been,  *^ Issue  bonds  for  it." 

This  too  frequent  and  often  irresponsible 
method  of  piling  up  municipal  indebtedness  by 
bond  issues  has  recently  been  the  subject  of 
considerable  attention  and  several  noteworthy 
attempts  have  been  made  to  restrain  or  regulate 
it.  In  Massachusetts  this  has  taken  the  form  of 
an  act  prescribing  the  specific  purposes  for 
which  fixed  or  funded  debts  may  be  incurred, 
and  the  prohibition  of  borrowing  money  for  any 
other  purposes  than  those  enumerated  in  the 
law.  In  New  York  City  the  authorities  adopted 
the  emergency  expedient  that  has  come  to  be 
known  as  the  ** pay-as-you-go"  policy.  This 
policy,  put  into  effect  by  the  Board  of  Estimate 
and  Apportionment  in  1914,  was  necessitated  by 
a  financial  crisis  precipitated  by  the  war  in 
Europe  where  seventy-seven  million  dollars  of 
the  city's  short-term  notes  were  held.  To  meet 
this  emergency  the  city  was  compelled  to  borrow 
one  hundred  million  dollars  from  New  York 


238  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

banks,  a  condition  imposed  by  the  bankers  being 
the  adoption  of  the  pay-as-you-go  policy.  Under 
this  policy  bonds  for  revenue  producing  im- 
provements will  continue  to  be  issued  as  hereto- 
fore. But  the  cost  of  non-revenue  producing 
improvements,  according  to  a  plan  which  will 
become  wholly  effective  in  1918,  will  be  paid  for 
by  the  inclusion  of  the  entire  cost  for  any  year 
in  the  annual  budget.  This  plan  was  enacted 
into  law  at  the  1916  session  of  the  legislature, 
d-espite  the  argument  that  there  was  no  reason 
for  the  intervention  of  the  legislature  and  that 
the  adoption  of  the  policy  was  wholly  a  New 
York  City  matter  that  should  have  been  con- 
trolled by  the  city.  This  new  move  means  that 
for  a  few  years  New  York  City  will  have  an 
additional  financial  burden  to  carry.  But  it 
also  means  that  eventually  there  will  result  a 
very  considerable  decrease  in  the  city  debt  and 
the  establishment  of  the  city's  fiscal  system  on 
a  sound  basis. 

Both  the  Massachusetts  law  and  the  New 
York  City  plan  offer  suggestions  for  the  im- 
provement of  municipal  finances  and  a  lessening 
of  the  burden  of  bonded  indebtedness.  The  first 
would  limit  the  powers  of  a  city,  but  in  such  a 
way  as  would  eventually  increase  its  financial 
independence.    The  pay-as-you-go  policy  could 


Municipal  Finance  239 

be  put  into  operation  in  many  cities  as  it  was 
originally  in  New  York,  without  legislative  en- 
actment. It  ought  to  be  a  matter  for  local 
authorities  to  take  or  reject  as  they  see  fit 
according  to  their  local  needs. 


CHAPTER  XII 


MUNICIPAL  REVENUES 


No  city  will  ever  be  able  to  work  out  its 
municipal  destiny  until  it  has  control  over  its 
own  exchequer.  That  is  an  essential  factor  in 
the  movement  for  municipal  home  rule.  This 
does  not  mean  that  a  city  can  ignore  its  financial 
obligations  either  to  the  state  or  to  individuals. 
It  does  not  mean  that  it  is  to  be  allowed  to  run 
amuck  financially.  But  it  is  important  that 
within  such  necessary  limitations  and  restric- 
tions as  the  state  law  may  impose,  a  city  shall 
not  only  have  control  of  its  expenditures,  but 
also  of  its  revenues.  This  brings  us  to  a  con- 
sideration of  the  subject  of  taxation  in  munici- 
palities. 

As  pointed  out  in  the  previous  chapter,  most 
American  cities  have  handicapped  themselves 
seriously  in  virtually  giving  away  in  perpetuity 
valuable  rights  and  franchises  which,  if  re- 
tained, would  have  constituted  a  considerable 
source  of  revenue  and  greatly  lessened  the  tax 
burdens  of  today.     Many  cities  do,  however, 

240 


Municipal  Revenues  241 

derive  a  considerable  revenue  from  their  public 
utilities  and  from  special  assessments  on  prop- 
erty which  is  held  to  be  benefited  by  local 
improvements.  But  this  revenue  has  only  an 
indirect  bearing  on  the  problem  of  municipal 
taxation  which  we  are  here  discussing.  Tax- 
ation, broadly  considered,  is  a  state  function. 
Cities  are  commonly  held  to  have  no  inherent 
power  to  levy  taxes  and  whatever  powers  they 
possess  in  this  respect  must  be  granted  them 
by  the  state.  Frequently,  however,  the  power 
resides  in  the  state  legislature  to  delegate  some 
of  its  taxing  authority  to  cities,  and  this  course 
has,  in  many  instances,  been  followed.  But 
without  such  a  grant  the  city  authorities  exer- 
cise no  power  to  impose  taxes  of  any  sort.  A 
city  in  tax  matters  acts  primarily  as  the  agent 
of  the  state.  It  has  been  a  common  practice 
to  confer  on  cities  authority  to  administer  state 
tax  laws  and  to  impose  on  them  the  obligation 
of  providing  the  machinery  for  the  assessment 
and  collection  of  taxes.  In  some  instances  leg* 
islatures  have  conferred  a  limited  power  of  gen- 
eral taxation  on  cities,  but  the  more  usual 
practice  has  been  to  empower  a  city  to  add  a 
certain  percentage  to  the  state  tax  rate  for  local 
purposes.  In  other  cases  the  taxes  are  sepa- 
rated, the  cities  being  allowed  to  collect  all  or 


242  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

a  part  of  the  tax  on  land  for  their  own  use  while 
the  state  reserves  the  revenue  from  other  taxes 
for  itself.  In  either  case,  however,  the  city, 
under  the  state  law,  usually  levies  and  collects 
both  its  own  and  the  state  tax  within  its  limits. 
As  a  rule  the  power  of  cities  in  respect  to  taxes 
is  still  further  limited  either  by  provisions  of 
state  law  or  by  the  constitution.  These  limita- 
tions, which  usually  take  the  shape  of  legislative 
authority  to  fix  the  tax  rate  or  of  restrictions 
on  the  purposes  and  objects  of  taxation,  have 
been  pretty  strictly  interpreted  by  the  courts. 
As  a  result,  there  has  been  very  little  freedom 
left  to  cities  to  exercise  discretion  in  such  mat- 
ters, and  very  little  flexibility  in  the  enforce- 
ment of  the  provisions  of  the  state  law. 

What  makes  the  situation  so  serious  for  the 
cities  is  that  their  municipal  requirements  are 
increasing  at  a  much  faster  rate  than  their 
current  income  or  even  than  their  income  is 
likely  to  increase  in  the  future,  unless  the 
sources  from  which  city  revenues  are  obtained 
are  extended.  To  summarize,  the  principal 
points  to  be  borne  in  mind  are  these:  Cities, 
forced  by  growing  municipal  needs  and  an  in- 
sistent popular  demand  that  they  be  satisfied, 
are  compelled  to  increase  their  expenditures. 
Increased  expenditures  mean  increased  taxes. 


Municipal  Revenues  243 

But  increased  taxation,  unless  the  subjects  of 
taxation  are  also  increased,  means  a  popular 
protest  that  is  very  likely  to  be  voiced  politi- 
cally. To  meet  this  critical  situation,  we  find 
cities  with  no  inherent  power  to  solve  this 
problem,  or  to  utilize  the  possible  new  sources 
of  revenue  that  may  lie  close  at  hand.  Is  there 
any  wonder,  under  these  circumstances,  that  so 
many  of  the  men  engaged  in  practical  municipal 
administration  are  ready  to  join  in  the  popular 
demand  for  home  rule,  or  at  least  local  option, 
in  taxation? 

The  problem  then  is  twofold.  First,  a  con- 
sideration of  the  relative  advantages  or  dis- 
advantages of  home  rule  is  taxation,  and  sec- 
ondly, the  closely  related  subject  of  a  city's 
ability  to  tap  new  sources  of  municipal  revenue. 

Turning  first  to  the  subject  of  local  option 
or  home  rule  in  taxation,  we  find  ourselves  at 
once  in  the  midst  of  a  heated  controversy.  It 
needs  only,  a  hasty  examination  of  the  argu- 
ments for  and  against  this  proposal  to  see  that 
this  is  one  of  the  many  fields  of  discussion  in 
which  the  proponents  and  opponents  refuse  to 
meet  each  other  squarely.  In  the  first  place,  it 
becomes  evident  that  there  is  a  vast  difference 
in  the  extent  of  local  authority  which  the  ad- 
vocates of  so-called  home  rule  or  local  option 


244  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

insist  npon,  and  almost  as  great  divergence  in 
the  opinion  of  those  who  oppose  it,  as  to  how 
much  freedom,  if  any,  and  what  sort  of  freedom 
it  is  safe  to  accord  to  the  localities. 

Advocates  of  home  rule  in  taxation  urge  that 
the  arguments  that  are  put  forward  for  munici- 
pal home  rule  in  general  apply  with  particular 
force  to  taxation.  They  urge  that  the  posses- 
sion of  such  powers  by  the  localities  will 
increase  a  city's  sense  of  responsibility,  and 
that  it  is  a  necessary  factor  in  the  proper  de- 
velopment of  local  self-government.  They  hold 
that  municipal  authorities  are  better  fitted  to 
handle  this  matter  than  the  state  authorities, 
not  only  because  of  their  greater  familiarity 
with  local  needs  but  because  of  their  manifestly 
greater  interest  in  their  particular  local  prob- 
lems. Frequently,  the  argument  is  made  that 
there  should  be  diversity  in  the  application  of 
the  tax  laws,  and  that  the  measure  of  that 
diversity  can  only  be  determined  by  the  locality. 
In  like  manner  it  is  urged  that  the  localities 
should  determine  both  the  tax  rate  and  the  ob- 
jects of  taxation.  A  proper  classification  of 
property  and  the  separation  of  the  objects  of 
taxation  for  local  and  state  purposes  are  also 
cardinal  points  in  the  programme  of  those  who 
advocate  a  greater  degree  of  local  control  in 
tax  matters. 


Municipal  Revenues  245 

Opponents  of  local  tax  automony  take  issue 
with  the  home  rulers  first  by  declaring  that  as 
taxation  is,  and  should  be,  essentially  a  state 
function,  it  should  be  regulated  by  state  law, 
and  that  such  a  state  law  should  not  only  cover 
the  subject  of  state  taxation,  but  of  local  tax- 
ation as  well.  The  view  of  the  home  rulers  as 
to  the  paramount  interest  of  the  persons  living 
in  a  given  locality  is  admitted,  but  it  is  denied 
that  so  long  as  non-residents  own  property  in 
a  city  the  actual  residents  are  the  only  persons 
interested.  Again  the  advocates  of  centraliza- 
tion argue  that  the  state  cannot  afford  to  let  its 
own  revenues  be  left  to  the  mercy  or  vagaries 
of  local  authorities.  They  hold  that  diversifi- 
cation in  method,  unless  carefully  restricted, 
would  mean  chaos  and  that  local  option  in  tax- 
ation really  means  only  local  option  in  exemp- 
tions. Complete  home  rule,  it  is  contended, 
would,  furthermore,  be  dangerous  because  it 
would  be  a  temptation  for  cities  to  promise  un- 
wise and  unfair  exemptions,  and  that  it  would 
in  particular  open  the  door  for  competition  in 
exemptions  in  different  cities  for  the  purpose  of 
attracting  new  industries.  Such  a  policy  might 
appear  to  be  temporarily  advantageous,  it  is 
admitted,  but  it  would  eventually  prove  detri- 
mental both  to  the  state  and  to  the  city  con- 


246  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

cerned.  Finally,  in  an  endeavor  to  warn  off 
those  advocates  of  a  moderate  degree  of  home 
rule,  the  intimation  is  thrown  out  that  the  home 
rule  and  local  option  movement  so  far  as  tax- 
ation is  concerned,  is  merely  a  disguised  form 
of  the  single  tax  propaganda. 

The  question  now  arises  whether  there  is  not 
a  remedy  which  can  be  found  neither  in  the  ex- 
treme demands  of  the  radical  home  rulers  on 
the  one  hand,  nor  in  the  equally  extreme  argu- 
ments of  those  who  would  bring  about  complete 
centralization  of  tax  administration  and  author- 
ity under  absolute  state  control  on  the  other. 
Such  a  remedy  does  not  necessarily  mean  a 
compromise  between  these  divergent  views.  A 
compromise  on  any  terms  is  probably  impos- 
sible. It  does  mean  a  sane  and  practical  policy 
of  taxation  which  will  safeguard  both  the  state 
and  its  municipalities,  which  shall  be  rigid 
enough  to  insure  complete  responsibility  on  the 
part  of  cities  for  the  support  of  state  and  local 
government,  or  to  prevent  unfair  discrimina- 
tion and  exemptions  and  rash  and  wasteful 
administration,  and  yet  be  flexible  enough  to 
permit  of  the  extension  of  the  principle  of  local 
self-government  and  to  insure  an  equitable  dis- 
tribution of  the  proceeds  of  taxation  between 
the  cities  and  the  state.    Such  a  result  cannot 


Municipal  Revenues  247 

manifestly  be  attained  by  the  simple  process  of 
conferring  on  cities  the  power  to  levy  such  taxes 
as  they  choose,  on  such  objects  as  they  choose 
and  at  such  rates  as  they  choose.  So  here,  just 
as  in  our  consideration  of  the  control  of  munici- 
pal public  utilities  and  the  administration  of 
the  civil  service  laws,  we  may  agree  that  con- 
stitutional and  statutory  regulation  of  the 
subject  of  taxation  does  not  necessarily  mean 
the  destruction  of  the  principle  of  municipal 
home  rule,  but  that  it  should,  if  properly  ap- 
plied, mean  a  very  considerable  extension  of 
the  home  rule  principle,  and  the  ultimate  in- 
crease in  the  power  of  cities  to  control  their  oAvn 
incomes. 

There  have  been,  indeed,  many  indications  of 
late  years  that  this  is  the  direction  in  which 
the  solution  of  our  tax  problems  is  working  its 
way  out.  This  tendency  is  expressing  itself  in 
the  efforts  to  remove  constitutional  impedi- 
ments in  the  way  of  the  delegation  to  localities 
by  the  legislature  through  general  laws  of 
greater  powers  in  tax  matters,  and  in  the  wiping 
out  of  the  so-called  **  uniform  rule^'  once  found 
in  most  state  constitutions  providing  that  all 
sorts  of  property  must  be  taxed  alike  regard- 
less of  its  character,  which  has  always  been  an 
immovable  obstacle  in  the  way  of  such  a  re- 


248  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

form.  Such  a  tendency  could  not  be  easily  de- 
fended if  it  meant  an  increase  of  the  power  of 
the  legislature  to  interfere  in  the  local  affairs 
of  cities.  But  there  is  small  likelihood  of  any 
such  result.  What  it  does  mean  is  the  introduc- 
tion of  greater  elasticity  into  existing  tax 
systems  which  would  enable  legislatures  to 
provide  for  such  needed  reforms  as  those  per- 
mitting the  classification  of  the  subjects  of 
taxation,  and  the  separation  of  the  sources  of 
state  and  local  revenue.  Within  recent  years 
many  states  have  amended  their  constitutions 
in  this  direction,  in  some  instances  providing 
specifically  for  classification  and  separation,  as 
in  Kentucky  and  Maryland,  which  approved 
constitutional  amendments  with  this  end  in  view 
only  recently  (1915).  Other  states,  such  as 
New  York  and  Pennsylvania,  have  already  in 
force  laws  which  in  practice  result  in  leaving  the 
revenue  from  the  general  property  tax  to  cities, 
and  reserve  to  the  state  the  revenues  from  other 
sources. 

There  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  a  perfectly 
adequate  measure  of  Home  rule  in  taxation  and 
a  proper  degree  of  state  regulation  may  not  be 
wholly  reconciled,  providing  that  there  is  noth- 
ing in  the  constitution  to  prevent  such  an  ad- 
justment.   With  adequate  provisions  for  classi- 


Municipal  Revenues  249 

fication  and  separation  in  the  state  law  and 
definite  provisions  for  compelling  responsibility 
and  guarding  against  unfair  discriminations 
and  unwise  exemptions,  there  is  no  reason  why 
cities  may  not  be  accorded  the  practical  control 
over  their  revenues  which  is  deemed  so  essen- 
tial. But  there  must  somewhere  be  authority 
to  keep  the  proper  balance  between  state  cen- 
tralization and  local  autonomy.  That  such  a 
balance  should  be  preserved  is  a  vital  matter  of 
state  policy,  the  control  of  which  can  most 
properly  be  retained  by  the  state.  Such  control 
need  not  endanger  the  home  rule  principle;  it 
will  not  if  cities  are  awake  to  their  rights,  and 
vigorous  in  their  assertion.  It  is  perfectly  fair 
for  the  state  to  prescribe  conditions  under 
which  local  control  shall  be  exercised,  in  order 
to  preserve  an  equitable  distribution  of  the  tax 
burden  between  the  cities  themselves  and  be- 
tween urban  and  rural  districts.  It  is  right  that 
a  restriction  should  be  placed  on  the  granting  of 
exemptions,  but  within  such  limitations  it  is 
perfectly  proper  to  allow  cities  to  decide  for 
themselves,  not  only  the  rate  of  taxation  re- 
quired for  local  purposes,  but  what  property 
shall  be  taxed,  and  what  property  exempted. 
Separation  of  objects  of  taxation  should  assure 
the  integrity  of  the  state's  resources.    It  will 


250  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

not  in  itself  necessarily  give  a  city  a  proper 
degree  of  freedom  in  choosing  the  objects  of 
taxation.  It  is  necessary,  therefore,  that  within 
certain  limitations  which  may  be  covered  by  a 
general  state  law,  the  city  shall  have  the  power 
to  tap  new  sources  of  revenue  for  local  pur- 
poses, 

A  study  of  the  financial  history  of  our  Ameri- 
can cities,  both  great  and  small,  during  the  past 
few  years,  makes  it  increasingly  evident  that 
the  new  problems  of  city  revenues  must  be  met 
and  solved  in  new  ways.  Just  as  the  old  slip- 
shod methods  of  assessment  and  collection  in 
which  privilege,  preference  and  politics  exerted 
a  malign  influence,  have  proved  wasteful  and 
inetf  ective'and  must  be  replaced  by  modern  bus- 
iness machinery,  so,  too,  it  is  becoming  increas- 
ingly evident  that  the  old  sources  of  revenue  are 
wholly  inadequate  to  meet  the  requirements  of 
cities  where  costly  public  improvements  have 
been  inaugurated  and  where  new  agencies  of 
public  service  are  continually  being  created. 

Tax  experts  have  been  paying  attention 
rightly  of  late  to  the  problem  of  how  to  perfect 
existing  systems  and  how  to  make  the  most  of 
ordinary  sources  of  revenue.  Very  properly  it 
has  been  considered  important  that  existing 
evils  and  short-comings  should  be  corrected  be- 


Municipal  Revenues  251 

fore  new  experiments  are  tried.  With  this  end 
in  view  there  has  been  a  great  deal  of  study 
devoted  to  increased  efficiency  and  economy  in 
the  collection  of  taxes.  Even  more  important 
is  it  that  the  assessment  of  taxes  should  be  per- 
fected, that  the  administration  of  our  tax  laws 
should  be  made  more  efficient  and  that  full  value 
assessments  based  on  a  fair  and  equable  land 
value  should  be  resorted  to.  Inequalities  of 
assessment  have  been  the  source  of  much  diffi- 
culty and  more  waste  in  the  past.  They  have 
generally  been  accompanied  by  gross  favoritism 
and  unfairness.  Such  evils  are  only  possible 
where  there  is  partial  value  assessment.  Actual 
full  value  assessment  is  the  only  way  out  of  this 
difficulty.  The  problem  for  cities  in  this  regard, 
however,  is  difficult  of  solution  where  there  is  a 
different  basis  or  standard  of  assessments  in 
cities  and  urban  districts.  Hand  in  hand  with 
full  value  assessments,  therefore,  must  go  a 
proper  separation  of  the  objects  of  taxation, 
the  importance  of  which  has  already  been 
pointed  out. 

In  regard  to  the  readjustment  or  reformation 
of  existing  systems  and  methods,  as  well  as  in 
the  enlargement  of  the  sources  of  revenue,  the 
city  finds  its  problem  made  more  difficult  in 
most  cases  by  certain  important  factors.    These 


252  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

factors  do  not  enter  into  the  situation  in  every 
state  of  the  Union  with  the  same  degree  of  im- 
portance, and  in  some  cities  one  far  outweighs 
the  other  in  importance.  General  state  laws 
dealing  with  taxation  are  more  difficult  to 
amend  than  almost  any  other  class  of  laws.  A 
tax  system  is  apt  to  be  so  fixed  that  it  becomes 
almost  an  institution.  When  it  is  shaken  every 
taxpayer  in  the  state  feels  that  his  pocketbook 
is  affected.  Add  to  this  the  fact  that  a  move- 
ment for  lower  taxes  is  so  frequently  made  a 
partisan  political  issue  and  it  is  easy  to  see  how 
the  difficulty  of  bringing  about  even  the  most 
necessary  reforms  are  increased. 

But  perhaps  more  important  than  any  of 
these  considerations  is  the  fact  that  in  almost 
every  state  of  the  Union  there  exists  an  inherent 
jealousy  between  the  rural  and  urban  members 
of  the  legislature.  The  members  from  rural 
districts  and  from  villages  and  small  cities  are 
used  to  lax  tax  methods  and  to  low  valuations 
for  assessment  purposes.  Their  needs  are 
smaller  than  the  needs  of  their  city  colleagues. 
The  city  men  are  used  to  higher  tax  valuations 
and  to  higher  tax  rates.  They  believe,  with  jus- 
tice, that  the  lax  methods  and  low  valuations  in 
the  country  districts  shifts  an  increasing  bur- 
den of  state  taxation  on  the  city  districts.    They 


Municipal  Revenues  253 

see  clearly  that  they  are  continually  being  made 
to  pay  money  which  they  feel  ought  to  be  spent 
within  their  own  cities  on  public  improvements 
in  distant  parts  of  the  state.  All  these  things 
do  not  conduce  to  a  harmonious  action  in  the 
enactment  of  tax  reform  legislation. 

Not  only  do  old  fashioned  and  antiquated 
statutes  frequently  stand  in  the  way  of  the  in- 
troduction of  improved  methods  in  city  taxa- 
tion problems,  but  the  more  rigid  provisions  of 
most  state  constitutions  also  offer  a  barrier 
which  it  is  difficult  to  overcome.  It  may  be 
comparatively  simple  to  find  a  remedy  which 
must  be  based  on  a  change  in  the  constitution, 
but  it  is  difficult  at  best  to  get  any  large  number 
of  laymen  to  take  an  intelligent  interest  in  an 
intricate  problem  of  taxation.  This  all  means 
that  it  is  more  difficult  to  amend  a  state  consti- 
tution in  respect  to  the  state's  power  to  tax 
and  more  especially  in  respect  to  a  provision 
which  would  give  cities  greater  opportunities 
to  solve  their  tax  problems  than  to  make  almost 
any  other  sort  of  amendments  that  can  be  im- 
agined. For  here,  again,  enters  the  jealousy 
between  the  rural  and  urban  commxmities  accen- 
tuated and  increased  by  the  lack  of  understand- 
ing of  the  problem  on  the  part  of  a  large  pro- 


254  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

portion  of  the  voting  community  which  may  be 
only  remotely  concerned.* 

As  a  rule  cities  have  had  to  depend  for  the 
largest  part  of  their  income  on  a  percentage  of 
a  general  property  tax  which  comprised  both 
real  and  personal  property,  not  only  tangible 
but  intangible.  The  personal  property  tax  has 
never  been  possible  to  administer  with  satis- 
faction, and  there  has  been  a  growing  inclina- 
tion to  do  away  with  it  as  far  as  possible.  On 
the  other  hand  city  land  revenues  have  been 
advancing  with  great  strides,  and  the  holdings 
of  intangible  personal  property  have  increased 
with  the  development  in  commerce  and  indus- 
try. Under  a  proper  system  of  separation  the 
city  would  still  be  left  with  the  income  from 
taxes  on  realty  values  and  personalty.  The  ad- 
mitted failure  of  the  personal  property  tax  as 
a  revenue  producer  and  the  inherent  difficulties 
in  its  administration  have  thrown  more  and 
more  on  real  estate  the  burden  of  supplying 
revenue  for  municipal  purposes.  It  is  probably 
true  that  the  importance  of  the  real  property 


*In  1915  New  York  defeated  by  an  adverse  majority 
of  approximately  575,ooo  in  a  total  vote  of  less  than 
1,250,000  a  separately  submitted  amendment  to  the  con- 
stitution which  would  have  made  possible  several  valuable 
administrative  reforms.  It  was  defeated  largely  by  mis- 
representation as  to  its  intent,  which  it  was  not  possible 
in  the  too  brief  campaign   to   correct. 


Municipal  Revenues  255 

tax  as  the  chief  reliance  of  municipalities,  is 
bound  to  increase.  Accepting  this  situation,  it 
behooves  cities  to  give  serious  attention  to  mak- 
ing this  tax  as  effective  «as  possible.  As  at 
present  administered  it  is  often  inequitable  and 
ineffective.  A  large  part  of  the  difficulty  lies 
in  defects  in  the  system  of  assessment.  The 
importance  of  full  value  assessments  cannot  be 
too  strongly  emphasized,  and  the  separate 
assessment  of  lands  and  improvements  will  tend 
to  accuracy.  As  adjuncts  to  the  real  estate  tax, 
special  land  taxes  or  increment  taxes  and  spe- 
cial assessment  on  real  estate  benefitted  by 
public  improvements  may  be  properly  consid- 
ered. But  there  are  natural  limitations  on  the 
extent  to  which  real  property  may  be  taxed. 
Here  the  burden  of  taxation  is  soonest  felt  in 
an  increase  of  rentals.  Protests  are  sure  to  fol- 
low. It  is  this  situation  that  leads  to  a  consider- 
tion  of  new  sources  of  municipal  revenue. 

Perhaps  the  most  discussed  of  these  sug- 
gestions for  new  or  supplementary  taxable 
sources  is  that  for  an  income  tax,  which  has 
already  proved  itself  an  important  factor  in 
the  national  tax  system  and  is  beginning  to  be 
considered  as  an  available  source  of  state  reve- 
nue. There  are  difficulties  in  the  way  of  the 
application   of  the   income   tax   to   municipal 


256  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

purposes — difficulties  both  of  assessment  and 
of  administration.  TVHietlier  it  will  be  possible 
to  find  a  satisfactory  method  of  solving  this 
problem,  possibly  through  a  system  that  would 
provide  for  state  administration  of  the  tax  on 
a  basis  of  the  distribution  of  at  least  a  part  of 
the  revenue  among  cities,  or  whether  it  had  best 
be  considered  as  a  more  natural  source  of  reve- 
nue for  the  state,  is  a  matter  which  will  doubt- 
less be  the  subject  of  considerable  debate  within 
the  next  few  years.  A  tax  that  would  seem  to 
lend  itself  to  fewer  administrative  difficulties 
from  the  municipal  point  of  view  is  the  so-called 
business  tax,  usually  assessed  on  the  rental 
value  of  premises  used  for  business  purposes. 
This  tax  has  been  used  in  Canada  and  in  some 
southern  states  in  the  United  States  with  a  con- 
siderable degree  of  satisfaction.  The  habitation 
tax  also  offers  possibilities  of  revenue  pecul- 
iarly fitted  to  urban  life.  In  addition  to  these 
there  have  been  suggestions  for  several  lesser 
taxes  such  as  taxes  on  billboards,  street  signs 
and  so  on  which  could  not,  however,  be  expected 
to  add  greatly  to  the  municipal  revenues.  It  is 
not  possible  here  to  go  into  the  points  urged  in 
favor  of  these  various  proposals  in  any  detail. 
It  must  suffice  to  say  that  they  are  proposed  as 
possible  ways  out  of  the  financial  difficulties  in 


Municipal  Revenues  257 

which  so  many  cities  find  themselves.  Whether 
any  one  of  them  or  all  of  them  would  prove 
satisfactory  must  be  for  the  present  largely  a 
matter  of  conjecture.  But  in  providing  tax 
systems  which  shall  be  flexible  enough  to  per- 
mit of  necessary  changes  to  meet  new  conditions 
of  economic  and  industrial  life,  the  possible 
value  of  cities  being  in  a  position  to  avail  them- 
selves of  these  practically  untried  sources  of 
revenue  should  be  kept  in  mind. 

Before  leaving  the  subject  of  municipal 
taxation  the  importance  of  one  of  its  adminis- 
istrative  features  must  be  referred  to.  The 
assessment  of  property  has  always  proved  one 
of  the  most  puzzling  questions  connected  with 
the  taxation  problem.  It  was  only  after  the 
severest  sort  of  experience  that  cities  began 
to  appreciate  the  vital  importance  of  assessing 
property  in  an  orderly,  businesslike  way,  and 
not  treating  it  as  something  that  could  be  done 
at  odd  times  by  amateurs  or  untrained  officers. 
In  most  cities  the  assessors  were  chosen  by  pop- 
ular vote  of  the  taxpayers  in  relatively  small 
districts.  Frequently,  the  assessment  district 
was  a  ward.  If  paid  at  all  these  assessors  re- 
ceived very  small  salaries.  They  were  not  ex- 
pected to  devote  all  their  time  to  their  work 
and  they  were  chosen  usually  on  a  party  ticket 


258  Emancipation  of  the  American  City 

with  other  elected  officers.  Hence,  the  mistake 
was  made  at  the  very  beginning  of  treating  an 
office  that  was  primarily  administrative  and  in 
which  expert  training  was  really  required,  as  a 
purely  political  one.  A  considerable  degree  of 
progress  has  been  made  in  reforming  this  im- 
portant office  but  much  still  remains  to  be  done. 
If  a  city's  fiscal  system  is  to  be  placed  on  a 
basis  of  solid  efficiency  the  assessing  machinery 
must  be  remodelled.  But  politics  has  not  been 
the  only  evil  that  has  fastened  its  hold  on  the 
business  of  assessment.  Another  difficulty  lay 
in  the  tendency  of  assessors  to  enter  into  com- 
petition with  each  other  with  the  idea  of  pleas- 
ing their  constituents  by  lowering  the  ratio  of 
assessment.  In  some  instances  this  competi- 
tion reached  such  proportions  that  the  revenues 
of  a  city  were  seriously  impaired.  Then  it  was 
found  necessary  for  the  state  to  step  in  to  cor- 
rect the  evil.  It  has  been  one  of  the  most  diffi- 
cult tasks  of  tax  reformers  in  recent  years  to 
take  these  offices  out  of  politics  and  to  teach 
assessors  to  look  at  their  task  not  from  the  point 
of  view  of  their  constituents,  the  taxpayers,  but 
from  that  of  their  employer,  the  city.  There  is 
an  increasing  demand  that  not  only  for  the  sake 
of  a  shorter  ballot,  but  for  the  sake  of  efficiency 
in  municipal  administration  and  a  proper  con- 


Municipal  Revenues  259 

servation  of  the  city's  resources,  these  officers 
shall  be  trained  experts  appointed  and  not 
elected. 

There  are  strong  grounds  for  the  belief  that 
the  demand  for  so-called  home  rule  in  taxation 
may  be  satisfied  by  proceeding  along  the  lines 
that  have  been  indicated  in  this  chapter,  always 
preserving  a  proper  balance  between  the  state 
and  the  cities,  in  such  a  manner  that  cities  shall 
not  lack  the  necessary  revenue  to  meet  these  ex- 
penditures required  by  the  demands  upon  them 
for  agencies  of  service  that  increase  the  health, 
comfort  and  h'appiness  of  their  inhabitants. 


APPENDIX  A 

CONSTITUTIONAL  HOME  RULE  IN  NEW 
YORK 

Advocates  of  municipal  home  rule  in  New  York 
State  have  been  carrying  on  an  active  campaign  for 
the  adoption  of  an  adequate  constitutional  amendment 
for  several  years.  They  have  had  extraordinary  ob- 
stacles to  contend  with,  some  of  the  most  serious  being 
peculiar  to  New  York.  Success  has  not  yet  been 
achieved  but  the  demand  is  now  so  widespread  and  a 
correct  understanding  of  what  it  involves  and  what 
it  will  mean  is  so  well  established  that  it  is  only  a 
question  of  a  little  more  time,  so  home  rule  advocates 
believe,  when  the  state  will  accord  its  cities  this  con- 
trol over  their  own  affairs.  The  existence  of  a  single 
city  with  half  the  state's  population  crowded  within 
its  limits,  and  the  political  differences  that  have 
largely  had  their  origin  in  this  division  of  the  popu- 
lation, have  hitherto  proved  the  most  serious  obstacles 
in  the  way  of  success. 

New  York  State  has  suffered  from  legislative  inter- 
ference and  the  evils  of  special  local  legislation  to  a 
remarkable  degree.  The  constitutional  convention  of 
1894  recognized  this  condition  and  attempted  to  meet 
the  difficulty  by  the  classification  of  cities  and  the 

261 


262  Appendix  A 

adoption  of  the  suspensive  veto,  by  which  the  mayors, 
or  the  mayor  and  council,  might  prevent  legislation 
not  approved  by  them.  This  remedy  checked  the 
most  serious  abuses,  but  did  not  reach  the  root  of  the 
evil.  Some  temporary  improvement,  so  far  as  cities 
of  the  second  class  were  concerned,  was  brought  about 
also  by  the  enactment  of  a  so-called  uniform  second 
class  cities  law.  But  because  of  lack  of  home  rule 
powers,  charters  of  second  class  cities  at  once  became 
subject  to  all  sorts  of  amendments  at  the  hands  of  the 
legislature  that  tended  to  destroy  the  uniformity. 
The  application  of  a  uniform  charter  to  third  class 
cities — those  under  fifty  thousand  in  population — was 
suggested,  but  the  differing  needs  of  cities  in  this  class 
and  the  wide  divergence  in  their  population,  as  well 
as  the  failure  of  the  second  class  cities  law  to  do 
what  it  was  originally  intended  to  do,  caused  those 
who  studied  the  situation  to  abandon  the  idea  of  uni- 
form charters. 

At  this  point  (1912)  The  Municipal  Government 
Association  was  organized  and  stepped  into  the  field 
with  a  comprehensive  and  well  considered  plan  for 
home  rule  which  included  a  municipal  empowering 
act  applying  to  all  cities,  an  optional  city  charter  law 
under  which  cities  might  by  referendum  choose  be- 
tween several  different  forms  of  simplified  charters, 
an  optional  non-partisan  municipal  elections  act  under 
which  cities  might,  if  they  chose,  conduct  their  local 
elections  on  a  non-partisan  basis,  and  finally  a  con- 
stitutional amendment  granting  home  rule  to  cities. 
The  strength  of  the  movement  given  direction  by  the 
association,  forced  all  political  parties  to  be  more 
explicit  in  their  usually  perfunctory  demands  for 


Appendix  A  263 

home  rule.  The  association  cooperated  in  the  organi- 
zation of  the  State  Conference  of  Mayors  and  Other 
City  Officials — an  organization  which  has  developed 
into  one  of  the  most  effective  associations  of  public 
officers  in  the  country — and  obtained  from  it  en- 
dorsement of  its  entire  municipal  home  rule  program. 
The  municipal  empowering  act  and  the  optional  city 
charter  law  were  enacted,  and  a  constitutional  amend- 
ment which,  while  not  so  far  reaching  or  as  complete 
as  the  Municipal  Government  Association  had  been 
advocating  would,  nevertheless,  have  meant  a  long 
step  in  the  direction  of  full  and  adequate  home  rule, 
was  incorporated  in  the  constitution  drafted  by  the 
constitutional  convention  of  1915  and  was  defeated  to- 
gether with  the  rest  of  that  progressive  but  ill-fated 
instrument. 

The  proposal  submitted  by  the  Municipal  Gov- 
ernment Association  to  the  Convention  of  1915  is 
printed  below.  It  is  presented  here  in  the  form  in 
which  it  was  submitted  to  the  convention  as  an  amend- 
ment to  the  present  municipal  article,  the  proposed 
changes  being  indicated  in  italics  and  the  parts  of  the 
existing  article  to  be  eliminated,  enclosed  in  brackets. 
The  outstanding  points  in  this  proposal,  it  will  be 
seen,  were  a  broad  general  grant  of  power  to  cities 
to  manage  their  own  government,  property  and  af- 
fairs, specific  authority  to  draft  and  adopt  charters 
and  charter  amendments  as  well  as  local  laws  and 
ordinances,  provisions  that  would  tend  to  change  the 
presumption  of  law  so  that  it  would  favor  the  cities 
rather  than  the  state,  the  abolition  of  the  right  of  the 
legislature  to  pass  local  laws,  and  a  restriction  of  its 
authority  to  the  enactment  of  general  city  legisla- 


264  Appendix  A 

tion.     The  proposal  as  submitted  to  the  convention 
was  as  follows : 


PROPOSED  CONSTITUTIONAL  AMEND- 
MENT 
To  amend  article  twelve  of  the  constitution,  relating 
to  cities  and  villages,  so  as  to  regulate  legislation 
concerning  them  and  guarantee  to  them  the  right  of 
municipal  self-government. 

TJie  Delegates  of  tJie  People  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  in  Convention  assembled,  do  propose  as  fol- 
lows: 

Article  twelve  of  the  constitution  is  hereby  amended 
to  read  as  follows : 

ARTICLE  XII 

§i.  EacJi  city  and  each  village  shall  have  full 
power  to  regulate  matters  relating  to  its  own  prop- 
erty, affairs  and  government,  and  to  the  property, 
affairs  and  government,  of  one  or  more  counties  lying 
wholly  within  the  city,  and  to  exercise  full  powers  of 
local  self-government,  subject  to  this  constitution  and 
the  laws  of  the  state.  The  powers  hereby  conferred 
shall  be  liberally  construed,  and  no  enumeration  of 
powers  contained  in  this  constitution  or  in*  any  law 
shall  be  deemed  to  limit  or  restrict  the  general  grant 
of  powers  hereby  conferred;  but  the  legislature  may, 
by  general  laws,  which  shall  in  terms  and  in  effect 
apply  to  all  villages,  limit  or  restrict  the  powers  of 
villages. 


Appendix  A  265 

§<2.  Each  city  and  cacJi  village  sliall  have  power 
to  adopt  and  amend  local  laws  not  inconsistent  with 
the  constitution  and  general  laws  of  the  state,  pro- 
viding for  the  exercise  of  the  powers  granted  hy  this 
constitution  or  hy  the  laws  of  the  state  and  relating 
to  the  local  affairs  and  property  of  the  city  or  village, 
the  powers,  duties,  qualifications,  number,  mode  of 
selection  and  removal,  terms  of  office  and  compensa- 
tion of  all  officers  and  employees  whose  compensation 
is  paid  directly  or  indirectly  out  of  the  city  treasury, 
other  than  justices  of  courts  of  record,  the  manner  of 
conducting  elections  of  elective  city  or  village  officers, 
the  transaction  of  its  business,  the  incurring  of  its 
obligations,  the  presentation,  ascertainment  and  dis- 
charge of  claims  against  it,  the  acquisition,  care,  man- 
agement and  use  of  its  streets  and  property,  including 
public  utilities,  the  tvages  or  salaries,  the  hours  of 
work  or  labor,  and  the  protection,  welfare  and  safety 
of  persons  employed  by  any  contractor  or  sub-contrac- 
tor performing  work,  labor  or  services  for  it,  and  the 
government  and  regulation  of  the  conduct  of  its  in- 
habitants and  the  protection  of  their  property,  safety, 
health,  comfort,  and  general  welfare.  Such  local  laws 
and,  amendments  thereto  shall  be  known  and  desig- 
nated as  '"^ local  municipal  laws''  to  distinguish  them 
from  local  laws  passed  by  the  senate  and  assembly. 
Such  local  municipal  laws  shall  be  draft ed-by  commis- 
sioners appointed  by  designated  officers  or  official  body 
of  the  city  or  village  or  by  convention  of  delegates 
elected  at  a  special  election  by  ballots  containing  no 
party  designations  or  by  convention  composed  partly 
of  commissioners  and  partly  of  delegates.  A  petition 
by  electors  of  a  city  or  village,  in  such  number  or  pro- 


266  Appendix  A 

portion  as  shall  he  prescribed  hy  tJie  legislature,  may 
require  tJie  calling  of  a  special  election  to  determine 
wJietJier  a  local  municipal  law  sJiall  he  drafted,  and 
whetJier  tJie  drafting  sJiall  he  hy  commissioners,  hy 
a  convention  of  delegates,  or  hy  a  convention  com- 
posed partly  of  commissioners  and  partly  of  delegates, 
and  tlie  legislature  shall  provide  hy  general  law  for 
such  special  elections.  The  legislature  shall  also  pro- 
vide means  wherehy  in  the  absence  of  any  such  peti- 
tion, the  drafting  of  local  municipal  laws  may  he  re- 
quired hy  action  of  officers  or  official  body  of  a  city 
or  village,  and  shall  prescribe  hy  which  of  the  afore- 
said methods  such  local  municipal  laws  shall  after  the 
taking  of  such  action  be  drafted,  or  the  legislature 
may  direct  that  the  method  of  drafting  be  determined 
hy  the  electors  at  a  special  election,  or  hy  officers  or 
official  body  of  the  city  or  village.  Every  local  mu- 
nicipal law  shall  be  submitted  to  the  electors  of  the 
city  or  village  for  adoption  after  publication  for  a 
period  and  in  a  manner  to  he  prescribed  hy  general 
law,  hut  no  such  period  shall  he  less  than  three  months. 
Every  local  municipal  law  so  adopted  shall  super- 
sede and  repeal,  so  far  as  the  city  or  village  adopting 
it  is  concerned,  all  inconsistent  provisions  of  any  laiv 
other  than  general  laws  applying  alike  to  all  cities 
or  to  all  villages.  A  local  municipal  law  may  dele- 
gate to  officers  or  official  body  of  the  city  or  village 
power  to  regulate  hy  ordinance,  resolution  or  by-law 
any  matter  which  may  he  the  subject  of  a  local  mu- 
nicipal law;  the  drafting  and  adopting  of  such  ordi- 
nances, resolutions,  or  by-laws  shall  he  regulated  by 
law  and  the  provisions  of  this  article  regarding  the 
drafting  and  adoption  of  local  municipal  laws  shall 


Appendix  A  267 

not  he  applicable  thereto.  A  city  sliall  he  deemed, 
for  tlie  purposes  of  tJiis  section,  to  include  one  or  more 
counties  lying  wJiolly  ivitliin  sucli  city,  and  tJie  pow- 
ers lierehy  granted  sliall,  except  as  in  this  constitution 
otherwise  provided,  extend  over  such  county  or  coun- 
ties. The  legislature  shall,  at  its  next  session  after 
this  section  shall  become  part  of  the  constitution,  pro- 
vide by  general  law  for  carrying  into  effect  the  pro- 
visions of  this  section. 

§5.  The  legislature  shall  not  pass  any  law  relating 
to  the  property,  affairs  or  government  of  cities  or  vil- 
lages or  one  or  more  counties  lying  wholly  ivithin  a 
city,  which  shall  he  special  or  local  either  in  its  terms 
or  in  its  effect,  hut  all  laws  hereafter  passed  relating 
to  the  property,  affairs  or  government  of  any  city 
or  village  or  any  county  lying  wholly  within  a  city 
shall  be  general  laws  and  shall  in  terms  and  in  effect 
apply  alike  to  all  cities  or  to  all  villages. 

§  [1]  4.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  legislature  by 
such  general  laws  to  provide  for  the  organization  of 
cities  and  incorporated  villages,  and  to  restrict  their 
power  of  taxation,  assessment,  borrowing  money,  con- 
tracting debts,  and  loaning  their  credit,  so  as  to  pre- 
vent abuses  in  assessments  and  in  contracting  debt 
by  such  municipal  corporations  and  to  provide  hy 
such  a  general  law  for  the  conditions  under  which 
and  the  method  by  which  villages  or  the  inhabitants 
of  unincorporated  territory  may  incorporate  as  cities, 
and  the  manner  in  which  territory  may  he  annexed  or 
separated  from  cities;  [and  the  legislature  may  regu- 
late and  fix  the  wages  or  salaries,  the  hours  of  work 
or  labor,  and  make  provision  for  the  protection,  wel- 
fare and  safety  of  persons  employed  by  the  state  or 


268  Appendix  A 

by  any  county,  town,  village  or  other  civil  division 
of  the  state,  or  by  any  contractor  or  subcontractor  per- 
forming work,  labor  or  services  for  the  state,  or  for 
any  county,  city,  town,  village  or  other  civil  di- 
vision thereof]. 

§5.  The  provisions  of  this  article  shall  not  he 
deemed  to  restrict  the  power  of  the  legislature  to  reg- 
ulate matters  of  state  concern  as  distinguished  from 
matters  relating  to  the  property^  affairs  or  govern- 
ment of  cities  or  villages. 

[§  2.  All  cities  are  classified  according  to  the  lat- 
est state  enumeration,  as  from  time  to  time  made,  as 
follows :  The  first  class  includes  all  cities  having  a  pop- 
ulation of  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand  or 
more ;  the  second  class,  all  cities  having  a  population 
of  fifty  thousand  and  less  than  one  hundred  and  sev- 
enty-five thousand;  the  third  class,  all  other  cities. 
Laws  relating  to  the  property,  affairs  or  government 
of  cities,  and  the  several  departments  thereof,  are  di- 
vided into  general  and  special  city  laws ;  general  city 
laws  are  those  which  relate  to  all  the  cities  of  one  or 
more  classes ;  special  city  laws  are  those  which  relate 
to  a  single  city,  or  to  less  than  all  the  cities  of  a  class. 
Special  city  laws  shall  not  be  passed  except  in  con- 
formity with  the  provisions  of  this  section.  After 
any  bill  for  a  special  city  law,  relating  to  a  city,  has 
been  passed  by  both  branches  of  the  legislature,  the 
house  in  which  it  originated  shall  immediately  trans- 
mit a  certified  copy  thereof  to  the  mayor  of  such  city, 
and  within  fifteen  days  thereafter  the  mayor  shall  re- 
turn such  bill  to  the  house  from  which  it  was  sent,  or 
if  the  session  of  the  legislature  at  which  such  bill  was 
passed  has  terminated,  to  the  governor,  with  the  may- 


Appendix  A  269 

or's  certificate  thereon,  stating  whether  the  city  has 
or  has  not  accepted  the  same.  In  every  city  of  the 
first  class,  the  mayor,  and  in  every  other  city,  the 
mayor  and  the  legislative  body  thereof  concurrently, 
shall  act  for  such  city  as  to  such  bill;  but  the  legis- 
lature may  provide  for  the  concurrence  of  the  legis- 
lative body  in  cities  of  the  first  class.  The  legislature 
shall  provide  for  a  public  notice  and  opportunity  for 
a  public  hearing  concerning  any  such  bill  in  every  city 
to  which  it  relates,  before  action  thereon.  Such  a  bill, 
if  it  relates  to  more  than  one  city,  shall  be  transmitted 
to  the  mayor  of  each  city  to  which  it  relates,  and  shall 
not  be  deemed  accepted  unless  accepted  as  herein  pro- 
vided, by  every  such  city.  Whenever  any  such  bill  is 
accepted  as  herein  provided,  it  shall  be  subject,  as  are 
other  bills,  to  the  action  of  the  governor.  Whenever, 
during  the  session  at  which  it  was  passed,  any  such 
bill  is  returned  without  the  acceptance  of  the  city  or 
cities  to  which  it  relates,  or  within  such  fifteen  days 
is  not  returned,  it  may  nevertheless  again  be  passed  by 
both  branches  of  the  legislature,  and  it  shall  then  be 
subject  as  are  other  bills,  to  the  action  of  the  gover- 
nor. In  every  special  city  law  which  has  been  ac- 
cepted by  the  city  or  cities  to  which  it  relates,  the  title 
shall  be  followed  by  the  words  ''accepted  by  the  city,*' 
or  ''cities,''  as  the  case  may  be;  in  every  such  law 
which  is  passed  without  such  acceptance,  by  the  words 
"passed  without  the  acceptance  of  the  city,"  or 
"cities,"  as  the  case  may  be.] 

Section  [3]  6.  All  elections  of  city  officers,  includ- 
ing supervisors  and  judicial  officers  of  inferior  local 
courts,  elected  in  any  city  or  part  of  a  city,  and  of 
county  officers  elected  [in  the  counties  of  New  York 


270  Appendix  A 

and  Kings],  and  in  all  counties  wliolly  witJiin  a  city 
or  whose  boundaries  are  the  same  as  those  of  a  city, 
except  to  fill  vacancies,  shall  be  held  [on  the  Tuesday 
succeeding  the  first  Monday  in  November]  in  an  odd- 
numbered  year,  and  the  term  of  every  such  officer 
shall  expire  at  the  end  of  an  odd-numbered  year. 
[The  terms  of  office  of  all  such  officers  elected  before 
the  first  day  of  January,  eighteen  hundred  and  ninety- 
five,  whose  successors  have  not  then  been  elected, 
which  under  existing  laws  would  expire  with  an  even- 
numbered  year,  or  in  an  odd-numbered  year  and  be- 
fore the  end  thereof,  are  extended  to  and  including 
the  last  day  of  December  next  following  the  time  when 
such  terms  would  otherwise  expire ;  the  terms  of  office 
of  all  such  officers,  which  under  existing  laws  would 
expire  in  an  even-numbered  year,  and  before  the  end 
thereof,  are  abridged  so  as  to  expire  at  the  end  of  the 
preceding  year.]  This  section  shall  not  apply  [to  any 
city  of  the  third  class,  or]  to  elections  of  any  judicial 
officer,  except  judges  and  justices  of  inferior  local 
courts. 


APPENDIX  B 

MUNICIPAL  HOME  KULB 
CONSTITUTIONAL  PROVISIONS 

(Recommended  by  Committee  on  Municipal  Program 
of  the  National  Municipal  League.) 

Section  1.  Incorporation  and  Organization.  Pro- 
vision shall  be  made  by  a  general  law  for  the  incor- 
poration of  cities  and  villages ;  and  by  a  general  law 
for  the  organization  and  government  of  cities  and  vil- 
lages which  do  not  adopt  laws  or  charters  in  accord- 
ance with  the  provisions  of  sections  2  and  3  of  this 
article. 

Section  2.  Optional  Laws.  Laws  may  be  enacted 
affecting  the  organization  and  government  of  cities 
and  villages,  which  shall  become  effective  in  any  city 
or  village  only  when  submitted  to  the  electors  thereof 
and  approved  by  a  majority  of  those  voting  thereon. 

Section  3.  City  Charters.  Any  city  may  frame 
and  adopt  a  charter  for  its  own  government  in  the 
following  manner:  The  legislative  authority  of  the 
city  may  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  its  members,  and, 
upon  the  petition  of  ten  per  cent  of  the  qualified  elec- 
tors, shall  forthwith  provide  by  ordinance  for  the  sub- 
mission to  the  electors  of  the  question :  *  *  Shall  a  com- 

271 


272  Appendix  B 

mission  be  chosen  to  frame  a  charter ?''  The  ordi- 
nance shall  require  that  the  question  be  submitted  to 
the  electors  at  the  next  regular  municipal  election,  if 
one  shall  occur  not  less  than  sixty  nor  more  than  one 
hundred  and  twenty  days  after  its  passage,  otherwise 
at  a  special  election  to  be  called  and  held  within  the 
time  aforesaid;  the  ballot  containing  such  question 
shall  also  contain  the  names  of  candidates  for  mem- 
bers of  the  proposed  commission,  but  without  party 
designation. 

Such  candidates  shall  be  nominated  by  petition 
which  shall  be  signed  by  not  less  than  two  per  cent, 
of  the  qualified  electors,  and  be  filed  with  the  election 
authorities  at  least  thirty  days  before  such  election; 
provided,  thgt  in  no  case  shall  the  signatures  of  more 
than  one  thousand  (1000)  qualified  electors  be  re- 
quired for  the  nomination  of  any  candidate.  If  a 
majority  of  the  electors  voting  on  the  question  of 
choosing  a  commission  shall  vote  in  the  affirmative, 
then  the  fifteen  candidates  receiving  the  highest  num- 
ber of  votes  (or  if  the  legislative  authority  of  the 
state  provides  by  general  law  for  the  election  of  such 
commissioners  by  means  of  a  preferential  ballot  or 
proportional  representation  or  both,  then  the  fifteen 
chosen  in  the  manner  required  by  such  general  law) 
shall  constitute  the  charter  commission  and  shall  pro- 
ceed to  frame  a  charter. 

Any  charter  so  framed  shall  be  submitted  to  the 
qualified  electors  of  the  city  at  an  election  to  be  held 
at  a  time  to  be  determined  by  the  charter  commission, 
which  shall  be  at  least  thirty  days  subsequent  to  its 
completion  and  distribution  among  the  electors  and 
not  more  than  one  year  from  the  date  of  the  election 


Appendix  B  273 

of  the  charter  commission.  Alternative  provisions 
may  also  be  submitted  to  be  voted  upon  separately. 
The  commission  shall  make  provision  for  the  distribu- 
tion of  copies  of  the  proposed  charter  and  of  any  alter- 
native provisions  to  the  qualified  electors  of  the  city 
not  less  than  thirty  days  before  the  election  at  which 
it  is  voted  upon.  Such  proposed  charter  and  such 
alternative  provisions  as  are  approved  by  a  majority 
of  the  electors  voting  thereon  shall  become  the  organic 
law  of  such  city  at  such  time  as  may  be  fixed  therein, 
and  shall  supersede  any  existing  charter  and  all  laws 
affecting  the  organization  and  government  of  such 
city  which  are  in  conflict  therewith.  Within  thirty 
days  after  its  approval  the  election  authorities  shall 
certify  a  coipy  of  such  charter  to  the  secretary  of 
state,  who  shall  file  the  same  as  a  public  record  in  his 
office,  and  the  same  shall  be  published  as  an  appendix 
to  the  session  laws  enacted  by  the  legislature. 

Section  4.  Amendments.  Amendments  to  any  such 
charter  may  be  framed  and  submitted  by  a  charter 
commission  in  the  same  manner  as  provided  in  section 
3  for  framing  and  adopting  a  charter.  Amendments 
may  also  be  proposed  by  two-thirds  of  the  legislative 
authority  of  the  city,  or  by  petition  of  ten  per  cent, 
of  the  electors;  and  any  such  amendment  after  due 
public  hearing  before  such  legislative  authority,  shall 
be  submitted  at  a  regular  or  special  election  as  is 
provided  for  the  submission  of  the  question  of  choos- 
ing a  charter  commission.  Copies  of  all  proposed 
amendments  shall  be  sent  to  the  qualified  electors. 
Any  such  amendment  approved  by  a  majority  of  the 
electors  voting  thereon  shall  become  a  part  of  the 
charter  of  the  city  at  the  time  fixed  in  the  amendment 


274  Appendix  B 

and  shall  be  certified  to  and  filed  and  published  by 
the  secretary  of  state  as  in  the  case  of  a  charter. 

Section  5.  Powers.  Each  city  shall  have  and  is 
hereby  granted  the  authority  to  exercise  all  powers 
relating  to  municipal  affairs;  and  no  enumeration  of 
powers  in  this  constitution  or  any  law  shall  be  deemed 
to  limit  or  restrict  the  general  grant  of  authority 
hereby  conferred;  but  this  grant  of  authority  shall 
not  be  deemed  to  limit  or  restrict  the  power  of  the 
legislature,  in  matters  relating  to  state  affairs,  to  enact 
general  laws  applicable  alike  to  all  cities  of  the  state. 

The  following  shall  be  deemed  to  be  a  part  of  the 
powers  conferred  upon  cities  by  this  section : 

(a)  To  levy,  assess  and  collect  taxes  and  to  bor- 
row money,  within  the  limits  prescribed  by  general 
law;  and  to  levy  and  collect  special  assessments  for 
benefits  conferred ; 

(b)  To  furnish  all  local  public  services;  to  pur- 
chase, hire,  construct,  o\vn,  maintain,  and  operate  or 
lease  local  public  utilities;  to  acquire,  by  condemna- 
tion or  otherwise,  within  or  without  the  corporate  lim- 
its, property  necessary  for  any  such  purposes,  subject 
to  restrictions  imposed  by  general  law  for  the  pro- 
tection of  other  communities ;  and  to  grant  local  pub- 
lic utility  franchises  and  regulate  the  exercise  thereof ; 

(c)  To  make  local  public  improvements  and  to  ac- 
quire, by  condemnation  or  otherwise,  property  within 
its  corporate  limits  necessary  for  such  improvements ; 
and  also  to  acquire  an  excess  over  that  needed  for  any 
such  improvement,  and  to  sell  or  lease  such  excess 
property  with  restrictions,  in  order  to  protect  and 
preserve  the  improvement; 

(d)  To  issue  and  sell  bonds  on  the  security  of  any 


Appendix  B  275 

such  excess  property,  or  of  any  public  utility  owned 
by  the  city,  or  of  the  revenues  thereof,  or  of  both,  in- 
cluding in  the  case  of  a  public  utility,  if  deemed  de- 
sirable by  the  city,  a  franchise  stating  the  terms  upon 
which,  in  case  of  foreclosure,  the  purchaser  may  op- 
erate such  utility ; 

(e)  To  organize  and  administer  public  schools 
and  libraries,  subject  to  the  general  laws  establishing 
a  standard  of  education  for  the  state ; 

(f)  To  adopt  and  enforce  within  its  limits  local 
police,  sanitary  and  other  similar  regulations  not  in 
conflict  with  general  laws. 

Section  6.  Eeports.  General  laws  may  be  passed 
requiring  reports  from  cities  as  to  their  transactions 
and  financial  condition,  and  providing  for  the  exami- 
nation of  the  vouchers  by  state  officials,  books  and  ac- 
counts of  all  municipal  authorities,  or  of  public  under- 
takings conducted  by  such  authorities. 

Section  7.  Elections.  All  elections  and  submis- 
sions of  questions  provided  for  in  this  article  or  in 
any  charter  or  law  adopted  in  accordance  herewith 
shall  be  conducted  by  the  election  authorities  pro- 
vided by  general  law. 

Section  8.  Consolidation  of  City  and  County.  Any 
city  of  100,000  population  or  over,*  upon  vote  of  the 
electors  taken  in  the  manner  provided  by  general  law, 
may  be  organized  as  a  distinct  county ;  and  any  such 
city  and  county  may  in  its  municipal  charter  provide 
for  the  consolidation  of  the  county,  city  and  all  other 
local  authorities  in  one  system  of  municipal  govern- 
ment, in  which  provision  shall  be  made  for  the  exer- 


*  This  number  may  be  varied  to  suit  local  conditions  in  the 
several  states. 


276  Appendix  B 

cise  of  all  powers  and  duties  vested  in  the  several  local 
authorities.  Any  such  consolidated  city  and  county 
government  shall  also  have  the  same  powers  to  levy 
taxes  and  to  borrow  money  as  were  vested  in  the  sev- 
eral local  authorities  before  consolidation. 


APPENDIX  C 

OPTIONAL  CITY  CHARTERS 

With  the  widespread  recognition  and  application  of 
the  optional  idea  in  connection  with  the  adoption  of 
city  charters,  an  important  step  in  the  direction  of 
practical  municipal  home  rule  has  been  taken.  Afford- 
ing cities  an  option  as  to  the  sort  of  charter  they  want 
does  not  take  the  place  of  a  grant  of  adequate  consti- 
tutional powers,  but  it  may  guide  them  to  a  proper 
application  of  such  powers  where  they  exist.  Where 
no  constitutional  provisions  exist  the  opportunity  af- 
forded a  city  to  acquire  the  type  of  charter  it  wishes 
is  definite  and  assured.  Where  such  constitutional 
power  does  exist  the  opportunity  for  a  proper  adjust- 
ment of  the  charters  to  the  needs  of  individual  cities 
is,  however,  greatly  enhanced  and  simplified  by  an 
optional  law.  As  originally  set  forth  in  the  optional 
city  charter  act  introduced  at  the  instance  of  the  Mu- 
nicipal Government  Association  in  the  New  York  State 
Legislature  in  1913  and  enacted  in  1914,  the  plan  has 
been  followed  in  other  states.*    Ohio,  Massachusetts, 


*  In  New  York  the  cities  of  Niagara  Falls,  Newburgh  and 
Watertown  have  adopted  the  optional  plan  which  provides 
for  government  by  a  commission  elected  at  large  with  a  city 
manager.  Auburn,  Geneva,  Dunkirk,  Elmira,  Lockport, 
Cohoes,  Watervliet  and  Mount  Vernon  have  voted  on  one 
or  another  of  the  options  without  obtaining  the  necessary 
majority  for  adoption.  The  attorney  general  of  the  state  has 
277 


278  Appendix  C 

and  Virginia  have  adopted  optional  city  charter  laws 
based  on  the  principle  of  and  in  some  respects  closely 
following  the  New  York  State  statute.  An  outline  and 
summary  of  the  New  York  law  is  here  presented. 

This  act  does  not  impose  any  sort  of  charter  on  any 
city.  It  merely  gives  to  every  city  of  the  second  and 
third  class  an  opportunity  to  adopt  a  modern  type  of 
charter  if  a  majority  of  its  voting  citizens  so  desire. 
The  act  offers  seven  options  to  cities.  The  seventh, 
known  as  plan  G,  however,  applies  only  to  third  class 
cities,  and  allows  them  to  adopt  the  uniform  White 
Charter  for  second  class  cities  with  salaries  on  a  lower 
schedule. 

Certain  provisions  which  are  applicable  to  all  the 
plans  tend  to  make  the  charters  simpler  in  operation 
and  to  decrease  the  number  of  elected  officers.  There 
are  some  cities  in  the  state  which  today  choose  their 
councilmen  at  large,  but  which  are  far  from  having 
short  ballot  charters  because  they  elect  at  the  same 
time  a  large  number  of  other  officers,  such  as  assessors, 
city  engineer,  city  attorney,  city  treasurer  and  so  on. 
Even  under  Plan  F  as  provided  in  this  act,  although 
the  council  is  elected  by  wards,  such  officers  as  those 
mentioned  above  are  made  appointive,  and  the  prin- 
ciple of  the  short  ballot  is  thus  established.  There 
are  three  classes  of  officials,  however,  who  are  not  af- 
fected by  the  adoption  of  any  one  of  these  charters 
by  a  city.  These  are  the  judicial  officers  and  the 
county  supervisors,  who  remain  elective  as  heretofore, 


raised  a  question  as  to  the  constitutionality  of  the  powers 
of  local  government  conferred  on  the  city  councils  to  reshape 
the  old  charters  under  this  act  and  a  suit  to  test  this  point 
in  the  law,  instituted  in  connection  with  the  Watertown 
charter  is  now  (February,  1917)  before  the  courts. 


Appendix  C  279 

and  the  boards  of  education  which  remain  either  elec- 
tive or  appointive  according  as  to  whether  they  were 
elected  or  appointed  before  the  change. 

In  other  words,  it  is  intended  that,  except  as  to  the 
framework  or  structure  of  the  city  government,  the 
existing  charters  shall  remain  as  little  changed  as  pos- 
sible. There  is  no  intention  of  providing  complete 
charters  for  the  cities  that  adopt  one  of  these  forms 
of  government.  It  is  specifically  provided  that  all 
existing  laws  and  ordinances  and  all  provisions  of  the 
existing  charter  shall  remain  unimpaired  and  in  full 
force  until  repealed,  altered  or  superseded  by  act  of 
the  newly  created  legislative  body.  The  limitations 
on  the  legislative  authority  and  the  conditions  under 
which  it  may  act  are  carefully  laid  down  in  Section 
37  of  the  act,  wherein  it  is  provided  that  the  council 
shall  have  power  to  regulate  by  ordinance  the  exer- 
cise of  powers  and  the  performance  of  duties  of  officers 
and  employees  of  the  city,  or  to  terminate  or  transfer 
such  powers  or  duties.  Under  all  plans  but  the  last 
the  city  council  has  authority  to  create  the  necessary 
city  departments,  provide  for  the  necessary  officers 
of  administration  and  fix  their  salaries.  Under  all 
these  plans  also  only  the  compensation  of  the  mayor 
and  council  is  fixed  by  law,  according  to  the  popula- 
tion of  the  city. 

Among  the  provisions  applicable  to  all  of  the  six 
first  forms  are  those  which  provide  for  weekly  meet- 
ings of  the  council,  provide  that  the  terms  of  mayors 
and  councilmen  shall  be  four  years,  and  for  the  filling 
of  vacancies  and  removal  from  office,  granting  the 
council  powers  of  investigation,  and  providing  for  the 
continuance  of  all  pension  and  special  funds  and  for 


280  Appendix  C 

the  application  of  the  civil  service  laws  to  city  officials. 
Under  plans  A,  B  and  C  the  council  may  act  as  a 
board  of  assessors,  or  provide  for  the  appointment  of 
assessors.  Under  plans  D,  E,  and  F  the  mayor  ap- 
points the  assessors  with  the  advice  and  consent  of 
the  council. 

In  order  that  some  idea  may  be  had  of  what  the 
structure  of  a  city  government  would  be  like  under 
the  several  plans,  the  provisions  of  each  form  (in  ad- 
dition to  the  general  provisions  applicable  to  all  cities) 
are  here  set  forth. 

PLAN  A 

Government  by  a  limited  council,  or  commission, 
with  division  of  administrative  duties.  Under  this 
plan  a  city  chooses  by  election  at  large  a  council  of 
^YQ  members,  one  of  whom  is  elected  as  mayor.  Cities 
of  less  than  twenty-five  thousand  inhabitants  are  al- 
lowed, however,  to  decide  for  themselves  whether  they 
will  have  three  or  five  councilmen.  The  terms  of  all 
are  for  four  years,  but  it  is  so  arranged  that  only  part 
of  them  shall  be  elected  every  two  years.  The  mayor 
merely  acts  as  head  of  the  city  for  ceremonial  occa- 
sions, presides  at  the  meetings  of  the  council,  and  exer- 
cises a  general  oversight  over  all  the  departments,  but 
has  power  only  to  make  recommendations.  He  votes 
as  a  councilman,  but  has  no  power  of  veto.  All  legis- 
lative, executive  and  administrative  power  is  vested 
in  the  council  which  divides  the  city  into  departments 
and  designates  one  of  its  members  to  serve  as  head  of 
one  or  more  of  these  departments.  The  council  de- 
cides what  appointive  officers  are  necessary  and  fibxes 


Appendix  C  281 

their  duties,  their  qualifications  and  their  salaries. 
All  subordinate  officers  are  appointed  by  the  council, 
or  under  its  authority,  and  may  be  removed  by  the 
council.  The  salaries  of  the  council  are  fixed  by  the 
law  according  to  the  size  of  the  city,  running  from 
four  hundred  dollars  in  cities  of  less  than  eight  thou- 
sand inhabitants  to  four  thousand  five  hundred  dol- 
lars in  cities  of  a  hundred  thousand  or  more.  The 
salary  of  the  mayor  is  in  every  case  one-fourth  greater 
than  that  of  the  other  councilmen. 

PLAN  B 

Government  by  a  limited  council,  or  commission, 
with  collective  supervision  of  administration.  This 
plan  differs  from  Plan  A  chiefly  in  the  amount  of 
actual  work  required  of  the  members  of  the  council. 
The  council  possesses  the  same  executive,  legislative 
and  administrative  powers  that  it  does  under  Plan  A, 
but  instead  of  dividing  up  the  city  administration 
among  themselves  and  each  becoming  the  head  of  one 
or  more  departments,  the  council  acts  rather  as  a 
board  of  directors  and  chooses  other  officials  to  direct 
the  adminiatrative  work  of  the  departments.  The  sal- 
aries, qualifications  and  duties  of  these  department 
heads  are,  however,  like  those  of  their  subordinates, 
determined  by  the  council.  As  under  Plan  A,  the 
mayor  presides  at  council  meetings,  has  a  general 
oversight  over  the  city  administration,  votes  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  council,  but  does  not  possess  the  power  of 
veto.  As  they  are  not  expected  to  devote  any  consid- 
erable portion  of  their  time  to  the  city  administration, 
the  salaries  of  the  mayor  and  councilmen  are  fixed  on 


282  Appendix  C 

a  lower  scale,  running'  from  three  hundred  dollars  in 
cities  of  less  than  ten  thousand  inhabitants  to  twelve 
hundred  dollars  in  cities  of  one  hundred  thousand  or 
more.  Under  this  plan,  as  under  Plan  A,  cities  of  less 
than  twenty-five  thousand  population  may  determine 
for  themselves  whether  the  council  shall  consist  of 
three  or  ^yq  members. 

PLAN  C 

Government  by  a  limited  council,  or  commission, 
which  shall  choose  a  city  manager.  It  provides  for  a 
mayor  and  four  councilmen  in  third  class  cities,  and 
for  a  mayor  and  six  councilmen  in  second  class  cities, 
in  both  cases  elected  at  large  for  four-year  terms,  part 
being  chosen  every  two  years.  The  salaries  of  mayor 
and  councilmen  are  the  same  as  under  Plan  B.  The 
council  possesses  full  legislative  power,  but  delegates 
the  executive  and  administrative  power  to  a  city  man- 
ager whom  it  selects.  This  city  manager  becomes  the 
administrative  head  of  the  city,  prepares  a  tentative 
budget  of  city  expenditures,  and  regularly  reports  and 
makes  recommendations  to  the  council.  The  council 
determines  what  officers  and  employees  are  necessary 
for  the  proper  administration  of  the  city,  but  the 
power  of  appointment  and  removal  rests  with  the  city 
manager.  The  mayor  votes  as  a  member  of  the  coun- 
cil, but  has  no  veto,  nor  does  he  concern  himself  with 
the  details  of  city  administration. 

PLAN  D 

Government  by  means  of  separate  executive  and 
legislative  departments.    Both  mayor  and  council  are 


Appendix  C  283 

elected  at  large  under  this  plan.  The  council  consists 
of  five  members  in  cities  having  twenty-five  thousand 
inhabitants  or  over.  In  cities  of  less  than  twenty-five 
thousand  population,  it  is  optional  with  the  city,  as  in 
Plans  A  and  B,  to  determine  whether  there  shall  be 
three  or  five  councilmen.  The  mayor  is  the  executive 
head  of  the  city  and  appoints  all  officers  as  required 
by  law  or  ordinance,  or  created  by  the  council.  The 
assessors  are  appointed  by  him  with  the  approval  of 
the  council,  which  fixes  the  duties  of  all  city  officers 
and  employees,  and  their  salaries.  The  council  elects 
its  own  president.  The  mayor  has  the  power  of  ap- 
proval or  veto,  on  ordinances  or  resolutions  of  the 
council,  which,  however,  may  re-pass  an  ordinance 
over  his  veto.  The  salaries  of  the  councilmen  are  fixed 
at  one-half  the  amount  received  by  councilmen  under 
Plan  A.  The  mayor,  however,  of  whom  a  great  deal 
is  required  under  this  plan,  receives  a  salary  three 
times  that  of  a  councilman  in  his  city.  As  under 
plans  A,  B  and  C  the  short  ballot  principle  is  pre- 
served by  making  the  mayor  and  council  the  only  elec- 
tive officers  aside  from  judicial  officers  and  super- 
visors. 

PLAN  E 

Government  by  means  of  separate  executive  and 
legislative  departments,  the  latter  to  consist  of  a  coun- 
cil of  nine,  elected  at  large.  This  plan  differs  from 
Plan  D  only  in  the  size  of  the  council,  which  is  fixed 
for  all  cities.  Here  again  the  mayor  and  councilmen 
are  the  only  municipal  officers  elected,  save  judges  and 
supervisors.  The  powers  of  both  mayor  and  council 
are  identical  with  those  under  Plan  D. 


284  Appendix  C 

PLAN  F 

Government  consisting  of  a  mayor  elected  at  large, 
and  a  legislative  council  chosen  by  wards.  Except 
that  this  plan  provides  that  there  are  to  be  as  many 
councilmen  as  there  are  wards  in  the  city,  it  differs 
in  no  respect  from  Plans  D  and  E.  Each  ward  is  to 
elect  but  one  councilman.  The  powers  of  the  mayor 
and  council  and  salaries,  and  terms  of  office  are  the 
same  as  in  the  two  preceding  plans  in  which  there  is 
a  separation  of  the  executive  and  legislative  functions. 

PLAN  G 

Adoption  by  third  class  cities  of  the  second  class 
cities'  law.  This  plan  merely  extends  optionally  the 
second  class  cities'  law,  known  as  the  White  Charter, 
to  such  cities  of  the  third  class  as  adopt  it  on  referen- 
dum. On  the  adoption  of  this  plan  by  a  third  class 
city  all  the  provisions  of  the  second  class  cities'  law  be- 
come applicable  with  the  exception  of  the  fixed  salary 
schedules.  These  shall  be  two-thirds  of  the  amount 
provided  in  the  White  Charter  for  cities  having  a 
population  of  less  than  seventy-five  thousand. 

A  petition  requesting  the  submission  to  a  popular 
vote  of  one  of  the  foregoing  plans  may  be  submitted 
to  the  existing  city  council  at  any  time.  Such  a  peti- 
tion must  be  signed  by  qualified  voters  to  the  number 
of  at  least  ten  per  cent,  of  the  votes  cast  in  the  city  at 
the  last  preceding  general  city  election,  but  in  no  city 
are  more  than  two  thousand  signatures  required.  All 
provisions  of  the  election  law  as  to  polling  places, 
registration,  form  of  ballot  and  canvass  of  the  returns 


Appendix  C  285 

apply  both  at  the  election  at  which  any  plan  is  voted 
on,  and  at  the  election  at  which  new  officers  are  elected 
in  the  event  of  the  adoption  of  a  plan. 

Only  one  plan  may  be  voted  on  at  a  time,  and  that 
plan,  if  rejected,  cannot  be  again  voted  on  until  a 
year  shall  have  elapsed.  Other  plans  may,  however, 
be  submitted  at  any  time.  If  any  one  of  the  plans 
proposed  is  adopted  it  continues  in  force  for  a  period 
of  four  years,  during  which  period  no  other  plan  may 
be  considered.  No  plan  adopted  goes  into  effect  until 
the  officers  provided  for  under  it  shall  have  been 
elected  and  taken  office.  Such  officers  are  to  be  elected 
at  the  general  city  election  next  succeeding  the  adop- 
tion of  the  plan,  and  take  office  on  the  first  day  of  the 
second  calendar  month  next  succeeding  their  election. 


APPENDIX  D 

Initiative,  Referendum  and  Recall 

The  method  of  applying  the  initiative,  referendum 
and  recall  in  municipalities  is  shown  in  the  following 
provisions  originally  incorporated  in  the  Optional 
City  Charter  Act  in  New  York.  These  provisions  were 
eliminated  before  the  act  became  law  on  the  refusal 
of  the  legislative  leaders  to  consider  the  measure  so 
long  as  they  were  retained  in  it. 

Section  61.  The  initiative.  Any  proposed  ordi- 
nance, or  the  question  of  the  repeal  of  an  existing  ordi- 
nance, may  be  submitted  to  the  council  by  petition 
signed  by  the  electors  of  the  city  equal  in  number  to 
the  percentage  hereinafter  required. 

The  petition  presenting  the  proposed  ordinance,  or 
proposed  repeal,  shall  contain  a  statement  in  not 
more  than  two  hundred  words  giving  the  petitioners' 
reasons  for  the  adoption,  or  the  repeal,  of  such  ordi- 
nance ;  and  if  it  be  signed  by  electors  equal  in  number 
to  at  least  fifteen  per  centum  of  the  votes  cast  for  all 
candidates  for  mayor  at  the  last  election  at  which  a 
mayor  was  chosen,  and  contains  a  request  that  the 
said  ordinance  be  submitted  to  a  vote  of  the  people 
the  council  shall  either  (a)  pass  such  proposed  ordi- 
nance, without  alteration,  or  repeal  such  existing  ordi- 
nance, within  ten  days  after  determining  the  suffi- 

286 


Appendix  D  287 

ciency  of  the  petition,  or  (b)  within  said  ten  days  call 
a  special  election  (unless  a  general  election  is  to  be 
held  at  least  thirty  and  within  ninety  days  thereafter) 
and  at  such  special  or  succeeding  general  election  such 
proposed  ordinance,  or  the  repeal  of  such  existing 
ordinance,  shall  be  submitted  without  alteration  to 
the  vote  of  the  electors  of  the  city.  The  council  may 
in  its  discretion  propose  an  ordinance  for  substitution 
and  may  submit  the  same  to  the  electors  at  the  same 
election.  If  the  petition  is  signed  by  less  than  fifteen 
per  centum  but  at  least  five  per  centum  of  the  electors 
as  above  defined,*  then  the  council  shall  within  such 
period  of  ten  days  pass  said  ordinance  without  change, 
or  repeal  such  existing  ordinance,  or  shall  submit  such 
question  of  the  adoption  or  repeal  of  the  same  and 
the  adoption  of  any  substitute  proposed  therefor  at 
the  next  general  election  occurring  not  less  than  thirty 
days  after  the  presentation  of  the  petition.  The  ballot 
used  when  voting  upon  such  ordinance  shall  be  printed 
as  provided  in  section  three  hundred  and  thirty-two 
of  the  election  law.  If  a  majority  of  the  qualified  elec- 
tors voting  on  a  proposed  ordinance  shall  vote  in 
favor  thereof  it  shall  thereupon  become  a  valid  and 
binding  ordinance  of  the  city,  and  the  same  shall  not 
be  repealed  or  amended,  except  by  a  vote  of  the  elec- 
tors, within  two  years  thereafter.  If  the  majority  of 
the  qualified  electors  voting  on  the  repeal  of  an  exist- 
ing ordinance  shall  vote  in  favor  of  its  repeal,  it  shall 
thereupon  become  of  no  force  and  effect. 


*  The  percentages  required  throughout  this  measure  were 
somewhat  lower  in  the  bill  as  first  drafted.  Even  the  revised 
percentages  are  lower  than  those  generally  believed  to  be 
both  safe  and  workable. 


288  Appendix  D 

When  there  are  two  or  more  ordinances  proposed  to 
accomplish  the  same  purpose,  the  council  shall  cause 
a  statement  to  this  effect  to  be  printed  upon  the  ballot, 
and  the  ballot  shall  be  so  arranged  that  the  voter  may 
(first)  vote  for  or  against  the  adoption  of  any  and  all 
ordinances  for  the  same  purpose  and  (second)  may 
express  a  preference  for  any  one  of  such  ordinances. 
If  a  majority  of  the  votes  on  the  first  question  is  af- 
firmative, then  the  ordinance  receiving  the  highest 
number  of  votes  shall  become  law,  and  the  others  shall 
fail  of  passage.  In  case  two  or  more  ordinances  of  the 
same  tenor  are  tied  for  the  highest  vote,  they  shall  be 
resubmitted  at  the  next  general  municipal  election. 

The  council  may  submit  the  repeal  or  modification 
of  any  ordinance  adopted  hereunder,  to  be  voted  upon 
at  any  general  election  succeeding  its  adoption. 

Section  62.  The  referendum.  No  ordinance  passed 
by  the  council,  unless  (a)  otherwise  required  by  the 
general  laws  of  the  state,  or  (b)  an  ordinance  immedi- 
ately necessary  for  the  preservation  of  the  public  mor- 
als, health  or  safety  and  which  contains  a  statement 
of  such  immediate  necessity  and  is  passed  by  at  least 
a  three-fourths'  vote  of  the  council,  shall  go  into  effect 
until  thirty  days  after  its  final  passage.  If  at  any 
time  during  said  thirty  days  a  petition,  signed  by  elec- 
tors equal  in  number  to  at  least  ten  per  centum  of  the 
entire  vote  cast  for  all  candidates  for  maj^or  at  the 
last  election  at  which  a  mayor  was  chosen,  protesting 
against  the  enactment  of  such  ordinance  and  request- 
ing its  repeal,  or  requesting  its  adoption  in  a  proposed 
amended  form,  be  presented  to  the  council,  such  ordi- 
nance shall  thereupon  be  suspended  from  going  into 
effect  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  council  to  recon- 


Appendix  D  289 

eider  such  ordinance.  If  upon  reconsideration  thereof 
said  ordinance  is  not  entirely  repealed,  if  so  requested, 
or  adopted  in  the  amended  form  as  proposed,  the 
council  shall  submit  the  question  of  the  repeal,  or  the 
adoption  of  the  ordinance  in  its  proposed  amended 
form,  in  the  manner  provided  by  (b)  of  section  sixty- 
one  of  this  act;  if  the  repeal  of  such  ordinance  was 
requested,  such  ordinance  shall  not  go  into  effect  un- 
less a  majority  of  the  electors  voting  thereon  at  such 
election  shall  vote  against  its  repeal;  if  the  amend- 
ment of  said  ordinance  was  proposed,  the  ordinance 
shall  become  effective  in  its  proposed  amended  form  if 
such  majority  vote  is  cast  in  favor  thereof,  but  if  not 
such  ordinance  shall  become  effective  in  the  form  as 
enacted  by  the  council. 

No  resolution  of  the  council,  appropriating  money 
other  than  for  the  regular  payrolls,  or  incurring  or 
providing  for  the  incurring  of  any  expense,  or  dis- 
posing of  any  property  or  rights  of  the  city,  shall  be- 
come effective  until  thirty  days  after  its  adoption; 
and  its  operation  shall  be  suspended,  and  it  shall  be 
reconsidered  and  submitted  to  the  electors,  in  the  same 
manner  as  in  this  section  provided  with  respect  to  an 
ordinance. 

Section  63.  Distribution  of  ordinances  among  elec- 
tors. Whenever  an  ordinance  is  required  under  sec- 
tions sixty-one  or  sixty-two  of  this  act  to  be  submitted, 
for  adoption,  modification  or  repeal,  to  the  electors  of 
the  city  at  any  election,  the  council  shall  cause  the 
ordinance  to  be  printed  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the 
commissioner  of  elections  to  enclose  a  printed  copy 
thereof  in  an  envelope  with  a  sample  ballot,  and  mail 
the  same  to  each  qualified  voter  at  least  five  days  prior 


290  Appendix  D 

to  the  election.  The  failure  on  the  part  of  any  voter 
to  receive  or  to  be  sent  such  copy  and  ballot  shall  not 
affect  the  validity  of  the  election.  The  person  filing 
such  petition  shall  have  the  right,  to  present  to  the 
commissioner  of  elections  at  any  time  twenty-five  days 
prior  to  said  election,  printed  copies  of  an  argument 
favoring  such  ordinance,  and  the  members  of  the  coun- 
cil shall  have  the  right  to  present,  or  permit  to  be  pre- 
sented, to  the  commissioner  of  elections,  with  the  same 
limit  of  time,  an  argument  opposing  such  ordinance. 
Neither  of  such  arguments  shall  exceed  two  thousand 
words  in  length  and  shall  be  printed  in  such  a  form, 
suitable  for  mailing,  as  the  commissioner  of  elections 
shall  prescribe.  The  commissioner  of  elections  shall 
enclose  one  copy  of  such  arguments  with  the  sample 
ballot  and  copy  of  the  ordinance,  mailed  to  each  voter, 
provided  that  they  are  furnished  with  printed  copies 
of  such  argument  equal  in  number  to  five  per  centum 
in  excess  of  the  total  number  of  qualified  electors. 
Nothing  in  this  section  shall  constitute  authority  for 
the  council  to  expend  any  money  belonging  to  the 
city  for  the  formulation  or  printing  of  any  argument. 
Any  number  of  proposed  ordinances  under  the  initi- 
ative or  the  referendum  may  be  voted  upon  at  the 
same  election. 

Section  64.  The  recall  of  mayor  or  councilman. 
The  mayor  or  any  one  or  more  of  the  couneilmen  may 
be  removed  from  office  at  any  time  after  one  year 
from  the  beginning  of  their  several  terms  of  office  by 
the  electors  qualified  to  vote  for  a  successor  for  such 
incumbent.  The  procedure  to  effect  such  removal 
shall  be  as  herein  provided:  1.  A  petition  signed  by 
qualified  electors  of  the  city  equal  in  number  to  at 


Appendix  D  291 

least  fifteen  per  centum  of  the  entire  vote  cast  therein 
for  governor  at  the  last  gubernatorial  election,  and 
demanding  the  election  of  a  successor  of  the  officer 
sought  to  be  removed,  shall  be  filed  with  the  city  clerk, 
which  petition  shall  contain  a  general  statement  of 
the  grounds  upon  which  the  election  of  a  successor  is 
sought.  Such  petition  may  be  filed  at  any  time  after 
one  year  has  elapsed  since  the  beginning  of  the  term 
of  the  official  sought  to  be  removed.  Each  signer 
shall  add  to  his  signature  his  place  of  residence,  giv- 
ing street  and  number  if  any.  Such  petition  may  be 
in  the  form  of  separate  papers,  but  each  separate 
paper  to  which  signatures  are  appended  shall  contain 
at  the  top  thereof  the  original  petition  or  duplicate 
statement  thereof,  and  when  bound  together  and  of- 
fered for  filing  such  separate  papers  shall  be  deemed 
to  constitute  one  petition  with  respect  to  the  election 
of  the  successor  of  the  officer  or  officers  named  therein. 
One  of  the  signers  of  such  petition  shall  make  oath 
before  a  proper  official  that  the  statements  made 
therein  are  true  as  he  believes,  and  upon  such  sepa- 
rate paper  to  which  signatures  are  appended  one  of 
the  signers  of  the  petition  shall  make  oath  that  each 
signature  to  such  paper  is  the  genuine  signature  of 
the  person  whose  name  it  purports  to  be. 

2.  If  it  appears  that  the  petition  is  signed  by  the 
requisite  percentage  of  electors,  the  same  shall  be 
accepted  as  prima  facie  regular  and  sufficient,  but  it 
shall  be  subject  to  summary  review  in  the  same  man- 
ner as  provided  in  section  seventeen  of  this  act. 

3.  If  the  petition  shall  be  sufficient,  and  if  the 
officer  or  officers  whose  removal  is  sought  shall  not 
resign  within  five  days  after  the  sufficiency  of  the  pe- 


292  Appendix  D 

tition  has  been  determined  by  the  council,  the  council 
shall  thereupon  order,  and  fix  a  day  for  holding,  an 
election  for  the  selection  of  a  successor  to  each  officer 
named  in  said  petition,  which  election  shall  be  held 
not  less  than  thirty  nor  more  than  forty  days  from  the 
presentation  of  the  petition,  or  from  the  making  of 
any  court  order  thereon.  The  council  shall  cause  pub- 
lication of  notice  and  all  arrangements  to  be  made 
for  holding  such  election,  and  the  same  shall  be  con- 
ducted and  the  result  thereof  returned  and  declared  in 
all  respects  as  in  other  special  elections  so  far  as  pos- 
sible. 

4.  A  nomination  of  a  candidate  to  succeed  each 
officer  sought  to  be  removed  shall  be  made  without  the 
intervention  of  a  primary  election,  by  filing  with  the 
commissioner  of  elections,  at  least  ten  days  prior  to 
such  special  election,  a  petition  proposing  a  person 
for  such  office,  signed  by  the  electors  equal  in  num- 
ber to  five  per  centum  of  the  entire  vote  cast  in  the 
city  for  all  candidates  for  governor  at  the  last  guber- 
natorial election. 

5.  The  ballots  at  such  election  shall  conform  to  the 
following  requirements:  With  respect  to  each  officer 
whose  removal  is  sought  the  question  shall  be  sub- 
mitted: Shall  (name  of  officer)  be  removed  from  the 
office  of  (name  office)  by  recall?  Under  the  said 
question  may  be  placed,  at  the  request  of  the  elector 
whose  signature  appears  first  on  the  petition,  a  state- 
ment, not  over  two  hundred  words  in  length  of  the 
grounds  upon  which  the  removal  is  sought.  Follow- 
ing such  statement,  the  incumbent  officer  may  cause 
to  be  placed  a  statement  not  over  two  hundred  words 
in  length  of  reasons  why  he  should  not  be  removed 


Appendix  D  293 

from  office.  Beneath  the  aforesaid  statement  shall 
be  placed  the  names  of  candidates  to  fill  the  vacancy. 
The  name  of  the  officer  whose  removal  is  sought  shall 
not  appear  on  the  ballot  as  a  candidate  to  succeed 
himself. 

6.  In  any  such  election  if  a  majority  of  the  votes 
cast  on  the  question  of  removal  are  affirmative,  the 
candidate  receiving  the  plurality  of  the  votes  cast 
shall  be  declared  elected.  The  officer  whose  removal 
is  sought  shall  thereupon  be  deemed  removed  from 
office  upon  the  announcement  of  the  official  canvass 
of  the  election.  The  successor  of  any  officer  so  re- 
moved shall  hold  office  during  the  unexpired  term  of 
his  predecessor.  In  case  the  person  receiving  the 
plurality  of  votes  shall  fail  to  qualify  within  ten  days 
after  receiving  notification  of  his  election,  the  office 
shall  be  deemed  vacant.  The  question  of  the  removal 
of  any  officer  shall  not  be  submitted  to  the  electors  a 
second  time  during  the  same  term  of  office,  until  after 
the  expiration  of  one  year  from  the  determination  of 
the  first  application  for  his  removal.  The  method  of 
removal  herein  provided  is  cumulative  and  additional 
to  such  other  methods  as  may  be  provided  by  law. 


APPENDIX  E 

Preferential  Voting 

The  following  table  wliich  shows  the  result  of  the 
vote  at  the  first  election  under  the  Grand  Junc- 
tion (Colorado)  charter,  illustrates  the  working  of  the 
preferential  ballot  as  commonly  followed  in  American 
cities. 

Vote  for  Mayor  (1909) 

Combined  Total 
First  Second    Other  1st  &  2nd    all 


Candidate 

Choice 

Choice 

Choices 

Choices 

Choices 

Aupperle 

465 

143 

145 

608 

753 

Bannister 

603 

93 

43 

696 

739 

Lough 

99 

231 

328 

330 

658 

Lutes 

41 

114 

88 

155 

243 

Slocumb 

243 

357 

326 

586 

926 

Todd* 

362 

293 

396 

655 

1051 

1813 


1231 


1326 


Elected. 


The  ballot  contained  the  following  ''instructions 
to  voters:'' 

294 


Appendix  E  295 

To  vote  for  any  person,  make  a  cross  (X)  mark  in 
ink  in  the  square  in  the  appropriate  column  according 
to  your  choice,  at  the  right  of  the  name  voted  for. 
Vote  your  first  choice  in  the  first  column;  vote  your 
second  choice  in  the  second  column;  vote  any  other 
choice  in  the  third  column;  vote  only  one  first  and 
only  one  second  choice.  Do  not  vote  more  than  one 
choice  for  one  person,  as  only  one  choice  will  count 
for  any  candidate  by  this  ballot.  Omit  voting  for  one 
name  for  each  office  if  more  than  one  candidate  there- 
for. All  distinguishing  marks  make  the  ballot  void. 
If  you  wrongly  mark,  tear,  or  deface  this  ballot,  re- 
turn it,  and  obtain  another. 

Method  of  Count 

The  preferential  ballots  are  counted  by  first  add- 
ing up  the  first  choices  cast  for  each  candidate.  In 
the  choice  of  members  of  a  council  if  any  candidates 
receive  a  number  of  first  choices  equal  to  a  majority 
of  all  the  ballots  cast,  they  are  declared  elected  in  the 
order  of  the  votes  received.  In  the  case  of  candi- 
dates who  do  not  receive  a  majority  of  first  choice 
votes  the  second  choice  votes  cast  for  each  candidate 
are  then  counted  and  added  to  the  total  of  first  choices. 
Any  candidates  who  have  then  obtained  a  total  of  first 
and  second  choice  votes  equal  to  a  majority  of  all  bal- 
lots cast  are  then  declared  elected  in  the  order  of  the 
number  of  votes  received.  If  a  number  of  candidates 
equal  to  the  number  of  offices  to  be  filled  have  not  yet 
received  the  required  majority,  the  other  choices  indi- 
cated for  each  candidate  are  added  to  his  first  and  sec- 
ond choices,  and  candidates  are  then  declared  elected 


296  Appendix  E 

in  the  order  of  the  number  of  votes  received.  In  case 
of  a  tie,  the  order  of  precedence  is  determined  by 
the  larger  number  of  first  choices.  In  the  election  of 
a  single  officer  the  same  method  is  followed,  the  can- 
didate being  declared  elected  at  that  point  in  the 
count  at  which  he  receives  a  majority  of  all  the.  bal- 
lots cast. 


APPENDIX  F 

Proportional  Kepresentation  Method  op  Count 

The  method  of  counting  the  ballots  where  the  Hare 
eystem  of  proportional  representation  is  in  use  (as 
in  Ashtabula)  is  indicated  by  the  following  rules  for 
counting  the  ballots  printed  as  an  appendix  to  the 
National  Municipal  League's  *'' Model  Charter/' 

KuLES  for  Counting  the  Ballots.  Ballots  cast 
for  the  election  of  members  of  the  council  shall  be 
counted  and  the  results  determined  by  the  election  au- 
thorities according  to  the  following  rules : 

(a)  On  all  ballots  a  cross  shall  be  considered  equiv- 
alent to  the  figure  1.  So  far  as  may  be  consistent  with 
the  general  election  laws,  every  ballot  from  which  the 
first  choice  of  the  voter  can  be  clearly  ascertained  shall 
be  considered  valid. 

(b)  The  ballots  shall  first  be  sorted  and  counted 
at  the  several  voting  precincts  according  to  the  first 
choices  of  the  voters.  At  each  voting  precinct  the 
first-choice  ballots  cast  for  each  candidate  shall  be 
put  up  in  a  separate  package,  which  shall  be  prop- 
erly marked  on  the  outside  to  show  the  number  of 
ballots  therein  and  the  name  of  the  candidate  for 

297 


298  Appendix  F 

whom  cast.  The  ballots  declared  invalid  by  the  pre- 
cinct officials  shall  also  be  put  up  in  a  separate  pack- 
age, properly  marked  on  the  outside.  All  the  pack- 
ages of  the  precinct,  together  with  a  record  of  the 
precinct  count,  shall  be  forwarded  to  the  general  elec- 
tion authorities  of  the  city  as  directed  by  those  author- 
ities, and  the  counting  of  the  ballots  shall  proceed 
under  their  direction. 

(c)  First-choice  votes  for  each  candidate  shall  be 
added  and  tabulated  as  the  first  count. 

(d)  The  whole  number  of  valid  ballots  shall  then 
be  divided  by  a  number  greater  by  one  than  the  num- 
ber of  seats  to  be  filled.  The  next  whole  number 
larger  than  the  quotient  thus  obtained  shall  be  the 
quota  or  constituency. 

(e)  All  candidates  the  number  of  whose  votes  on 
the  first  count  is  equal  to  or  greater  than  the  quota 
shall  then  be  declared  elected. 

(f)  All  votes  obtained  by  any  candidate  in  excess 
of  the  quota  shall  be  termed  the  surplus  of  that  can- 
didate. 

(g)  The  surplus  shall  be  transferred,  the  largest 
surplus  first,  then  the  next  largest,  and  so  on.  Each 
ballot  of  the  surplus  that  is  capable  of  transfer  shall 
be  transferred  to  and  added  to  the  votes  of  the  con- 
tinuing candidate,  marked  on  it  as  the  next  prefer- 
ence. 

(h)  ** Ballots  capable  of  transfer'*  means  ballots 
from  which  the  next  lower  choice  of  the  voter  for 
Bome  continuing  candidate  can  be  ascertained.    **Con- 


Appendix  F  299 

tinuing  candidates'*  means  candidates  as  yet  neither 
elected  nor  defeated. 

(i)  The  particular  ballots  to  be  taken  for  trans- 
fer as  the  surplus  of  such  candidate  shall  be  obtained 
by  taking  as  nearly  an  equal  number  of  ballots  as 
possible  from  the  first-choice  ballots,  capable  of  trans- 
fer, that  have  been  cast  for  the  candidate  in  each  of 
the  different  precincts  of  the  city.  All  such  surplus 
ballots  shall  be  taken  without  selection  as  they  may 
happen  to  come  in  the  different  packages. 

(j)  After  the  transfer  of  all  surpluses,  the  votes 
standing  to  the  credit  of  each  candidate  shall  be 
counted  and  tabulated  as  the  second  count. 

(k)  After  the  tabulation  of  the  second  count  (or 
after  that  of  the  first  count  if  no  candidate  received 
a  surplus  on  the  first)  the  candidate  lowest  on  the 
poll  as  it  then  stands  shall  be  declared  defeated  and 
all  his  ballots  capable  of  transfer  shall  be  transferred 
to  the  continuing  candidates,  each  ballot  being  trans- 
ferred to  the  credit  of  that  continuing  candidate  pre- 
ferred by  the  voter.  After  the  transfer  of  these  bal- 
lots a  fresh  count  and  tabulation  shall  be  made.  In 
this  manner  candidates  shall  be  successively  declared 
defeated,  and  their  ballots  capable  of  transfer  trans- 
ferred to  continuing  candidates,  and  a  fresh  count 
and  tabulation  made.  After  any  tabulation  the  can- 
didate to  be  declared  defeated  shall  be  the  one  then 
lowest  on  the  poll. 

(1)  Whenever  in  the  transfer  of  a  surplus  or  of 
the  ballots  of  a  defeated  candidate  the  votes  of  any 


300  Appendix  F 

candidate  shall  equal  the  quota,  he  shall  immediately 
be  declared  elected  and  no  further  transfer  to  him 
shall  be  made. 

(m)  When  candidates  to  the  number  of  the  seats 
to  be  filled  have  received  a  quota  and  therefore  have 
been  declared  elected,  all  other  candidates  shall  be 
declared  defeated  and  the  count  shall  be  at  an  end, 
and  when  the  number  of  continuing  candidates  shall 
be  reduced  to  the  number  of  seats  to  be  filled,  those 
candidates  shall  be  declared  elected  whether  they  have 
received  the  full  quota  or  not  and  the  count  shall  be 
at  an  end. 

(n)  If  at  any  count  two  or  more  candidates  at 
the  bottom  of  the  poll  have  the  same  number  of  votes, 
that  candidate  shall  first  be  declared  defeated  who 
was  lowest  at  the  next  preceding  count  at  which  their 
votes  were  different.  Should  it  happen  that  the  votes 
of  these  candidates  are  equal  to  each  other  on  all 
counts,  lots  shall  be  drawn  to  decide  which  candidate 
shall  next  be  declared  defeated. 

(o)  In  the  transfer  of  the  ballots  of  any  candidate 
who  has  received  ballots  by  transfer  those  ballots  shall 
first  be  transferred  upon  which  the  defeated  candidate 
was  first  choice  and  the  remaining  ballots  shall  be 
transferred  in  the  order  of  the  transfers  by  which 
they  were  received  by  the  defeated  candidate. 

(p)  On  each  tabulation  a  count  shall  be  kept  of 
those  ballots  which  have  not  been  used  in  the  election 
of  some  candidate  and  which  are  not  capable  of  trans- 
fer, under  the  designation  ' '  Non-transferable  ballots. ' ' 


Appendix  F  301 

(q)  So  far  as  may  be  consistent  with  good  order 
and  with  convenience  in  the  counting  and  transferring 
of  the  ballots,  the  public,  representatives  of  the  press, 
and  especially  the  candidates  themselves  shall  be  af- 
forded every  facility  for  being  present  and  witnessing 
these  operations. 


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APPENDIX  G 

Proportional  Representation 

A  minus  sign  before  a  number  means  the  taking 
of  that  number  of  votes  from  the  candidate  whose 
name  appears  at  the  head  of  the  column  for  transfer 
to  other  candidates  according  to  the  indicated  will 
of  the  voter. 

A  plus  sign  before  a  number  means  the  adding  of 
that  number  of  votes  to  the  candidate  indicated  ac- 
cording to  the  will  of  the  voters  as  expressed  on  such 
ballots. 

Each  result  column  shows  the  standing  of  all  can- 
didates after  the  transfer  of  votes  recorded  in  the 
preceding  column. 

At  the  Ashtabula  election,  it  will  be  seen,  only  one 
candidate,  McClure,  obtained  the  quota  required  to 
elect  on  the  first  choice  ballots.  Only  two  other  can- 
didates, Hogan  and  McCune,  obtained  the  required 
quota  at  any  period  of  the  count.  The  other  four 
candidates  elected  were  chosen  on  the  basis  of  having 
obtained  enough  votes  to  include  them  in  the  list  of 
seven  highest. 

303 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Beard,  Charles  A.  American  City  Government. 
The  Century  Company,  New  York,  1912. 

Beard,  Charles  A.  Loose  Leaf  Digest  of  Short  Bal- 
lot Charters.  The  Short  Ballot  Organization, 
New  York,  1911. 

Bradford,  Ernest  S.  Commission  Government  in 
American  Cities.  The  Macmillan  Company,  New 
York,  1911. 

Bruere,  Henry.  The  New  City  Government.  Ap- 
pleton  &  Co.,  New  York,  1912. 

CoNKLiNG,  Alfred  R.  City  Government  in  the 
United  States.  D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  New  York 
1894. 

Deming,  Horace  E.  The  Government  of  American 
Cities.    G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons,  New  York,  1909. 

Fairlie,  John  A.  Essays  in  Municipal  Administra- 
tion.   MacMiUan  Co.,  New  York,  1908. 

Fairlie,  John  A.  Municipal  Administration.  Mac- 
millan Co.,  New  York,  1901. 

GoODNOW,  Frank  J.  Municipal  Government.  Cen- 
tury Company,  New  York,  1909. 

GooDNOW,  Frank  J.  City  Government  in  the  United 
States.    Century  Company,  New  York,  1909. 

Hamilton,  J.  J.  City  Government  by  Commission. 
Funk  &  Wagnalls,  New  York,  1911. 

Howe,  Frederick  C.  The  City:  The  Hope  of  De- 
mocracy. Charles  Scribner^s  Sons,  New  York, 
1912. 

805 


306  Bibliography 

James,  Herman  G.  Applied  City  Government.  Har- 
per &  Brothers,  New  York,  1914. 

McBain,  Howard  Lee.  The  Law  and  Practice  of 
Municipal  Home  Rule.  Columbia  University 
Press,  New  York,  1916. 

McGregor,  Ford  H.  City  Government  by  Commis- 
sion. Bulletin  No.  428,  University  of  Wisconsin, 
Madison,  Wis.,  1911. 

Munro,  William  B.  The  Government  of  American 
Cities.    Macmillan  Company,  New  York,  1912. 

Munro,  William  B.  The  Initiative,  Referendum  and 
Recall.    D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  New  York,  1912. 

RowE,  L.  S.  Problems  of  City  Government.  D.  Ap- 
pleton &  Co.,  New  York,  1908. 

Ryan,  Oswald.  Municipal  Freedom.  Doubleday, 
Page  &  Co.,  New  York,  1915. 

Wilcox,  Delos  F.  Great  Cities  in  America.  Mac- 
miUan  Co.,  New  York,  1910. 

Woodruff,  Clinton  Rogers  (Ed).  City  Govern- 
ment by  Commission.  National  Municipal 
League  Series,  New  York,  1911. 

Zeublein,  Charles.  American  Municipal  Progress. 
Macmillan  Co.,  New  York,  1902. 

Efficiency  in  City  Government  (American  Acad- 
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phia, Pa.,  1912. 


INDEX 


Accounting  and  auditing,  234-235. 

Administration,  Municipal,  under  Commission  Gov- 
ernment, 76-78;  83-84;  under  commission  man- 
ager plan,  90-99;  politics,  12,  107;  general  dis- 
cussion, 173-195. 

Ashtabula  (Ohio),  charter,  78;  proportional  represen- 
tation, 141-142. 

Assessment,  methods,  251-259. 

B 

Ballot,  reform,  51-52;  108;  preferential  ballot,  134- 
140;  296-298;  proportional  representation,  140- 
150,  299-305. 

Berkeley  (Cal.),  non-partisan  elections,  123. 

Bonds,  Municipal,  231-237. 

''Boss,''  Municipal,  45-62. 

Budgets,  City,  227-229. 

Buffalo  (New  York),  charter,  81. 


Centralization,  in  city  government,  66,  77,  109 ;  under 

commission  manager  plan,  90-95. 
Charters,  City,  26-31,  34,  38,  42. 
Childs,  Richard  S.  quoted,  83. 

307 


308  Index 

Cities,   growth  of,   8-9,   19 ;  social  activities,   17-18 ; 

European,  22-24;  legal  conception  of,  26-27,  41- 

44;   early   history,   27-29;   classification   of,   34; 

bi-partisanship  in,  47-48 ;  trend  of  reform  in,  65 ; 

as  adjuncts  of  parties,  107. 
Citizens  Union  of  New  York,  128-129. 
City  Government,  in  Europe  and  America,  22-30. 
City  Manager,  see  Commission  manager. 
Civil  Service,  48,  108 ;  development  in  cities,  178-192 ; 

home  rule,  192-195. 
Commission  Government,  68-69,  72-84,  85-87,  91-94. 
Commission  manager  plan,  85-102. 
Constitutional  Home  Rule,  see  Home  Rule. 
Courts,  attitude  toward  cities,  45-62. 


Dayton  (Ohio),  charter,  89,  98. 

Des  Moines  (Iowa),  commission  plan  in,  75;  non- 
partisan elections  in,  122-124. 

Direct  Legislation,  152-172. 

Direct  Primaries,  attitude  of  politicians  toward,  51 ; 
effect  in  city  government,  110-115. 

E 

Effective  Voting,  133-151. 

Elections,  Municipal,  non-partisan,  103-132 ;  Primary, 

110-115;   preferential  voting,   134-140,   296-298; 

proportional  representation,  141-150,  301-305. 
European  cities,  23-25. 
Experts,  municipal,  185-187. 

F 

Federal  plan  of  city  government,  30-31,  69-70, 106. 
Finances,  municipal,  220-239. 

Franchises,  public  utility,  48,  197-200,  209-214, 
222-223, 


Index  309 

G 

Galveston  (Texas),  commission  plan,  73-75. 
Goodnow,  Frank  J.  quoted,  18,  213-214. 
Grand   Junction    (Colo.),   charter,   78;   preferential 
voting,  135,  296-298. 

H 

Hare  System  of  Voting,  143-144. 

Home  Rule,  Municipal,  problem,  1-20;  constitutional 
basis,  21-44 ;  attitude  of  party  boss  toward,  52-54, 
60-65;  taxation,  243-249;  civil  service,  192-195; 
public  utilities,  202-209;  New  York  State,  263- 
272;  National  Municipal  League  proposals,  273- 
278. 


Initiative,  in  cities,  152-157,  163,  168-171,  288-290. 
Indebtedness,  municipal,  229-231. 
Iowa,  commission  government  in,  75. 

J 

Jacksonian  era,  effect  on  city  government,  6-7. 

K 
Kansas,  commission  government  in,  79. 

L 

Legislation,  special,  43 ;  general,  34,  41-44. 
Legislative  interference  in  cities,  31-35,  38,  222,  227- 

228. 
Legislatures,  state,  effect  of  lack  of  home  rule  on, 

39-40. 
List  System  of  voting,  144-145. 


310  Index 

Local  self  government,  5,  14-16. 
Lockport  (New  York)  Plan,  88. 
Lynn  (Mass.),  ''specific  office''  plan,  79-80. 


M 

Machine  politics  in  cities,  7-9,  45-63,  178. 

Massachusetts,  municipal  civil  service,  193 ;  municipal 
finances,  234,  237. 

Mayors,  powers  increased.  65,  109. 

Merriam,  C.  E.,  quoted,  113. 

Minority  representation,  see  proportional  representa- 
tion. 

Minnesota,  preferential  ballot,  135  and  note;  home 
rule,  135-136. 

Missouri,  constitutional  home  rule,  35. 

''Model  Charter,''  see  National  Municipal  League. 

Municipal  Government  Association  (New  York),  264- 
265. 

Municipal  Ownership,  211-217. 

Municipal  Problem,  3-5,  10-11. 


N 

National  Municipal  League,  Model  Charter,  81-82, 
143,  273-278 ;  Keport  on  Franchises,  211. 

New  York  City,  Charter,  82. 

New  York  State,  Classification  of  Cities  in,  34,  270; 
State  Conference  of  Mayors,  265 ;  Constitutional 
Home  Rule  in,  38;  Note,  263-265;  Municipal 
Civil  Service,  194-195. 

Nominations,  Petitions,  123-126;  see  also  direct  pri- 
maries. 


Optional  Charters,  89,  279-287. 


Index  311 


Parties,  National,  Influence  in  Cities,  4-9,  11,  31-32; 
Strengthen  Machine  Control,  46-47 ;  Non-Partisan 
City  Elections,  119-121;  Control  Weakened  by 
Short  Ballot,  63-64. 

Parties,  City,  126-130. 

Patronage,  see  Spoils  System. 

''Pay-as-you-go"  Policy,  237-238. 

Powers  of  Cities,  37-44. 

Preferential  Voting,  134-140 ;  296-298. 

Primary  Elections,  see  Elections  and  Direct  Primaries. 

Proportional  Eepresentation,  140-150,  301-305. 

Public  Utilities,  Regulation  and  Control,  196-219. 


R 

Recall,  157-163,  171-172,  292-295 ;  Under  Proportional 
Representation,  148-149,  Note ;  City  Manager,  98. 

Referendum,  152-156,  163-168,  290-292. 

Representative  Government,  Short  Ballot,  70-72;  As 
Effected  by  Initiative,  Referendum  and  Recall, 
152-157, 163,167. 


S 

Separation  of  Powers,  see  Federal  Plan. 

Serial  Bonds,  232-234. 

Short  Ballot,  City  Charters,  63-84 ;  Definition,  67. 

Single  Tax,  246. 

Sinking  Funds,  232-234. 

Special  Legislation,  33-43. 

''Specific  Office  Plan,"  78-80. 

Spoils  System,  6-8,  56-57,  177-178. 

Staunton  (Va.),  City  Manager,  87. 

Sumter  (S.  C),  78. 


312  Index 

T 

Tammany  Hall,  49,  58-59. 
Taxation,  Municipal,  240-259. 

U 

Uniform  Charters,  38. 

V 

Voting,  see  Ballot. 


28[ 


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